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Comics, Coffee, Clones and Chaos · Rik and that Michele Chick

0:01
Welcome to Rick and That Michelle Chick, the weekly
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podcast where your hosts, Rick and Michelle, confidently dive
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into topics they know absolutely nothing about and somehow make
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it sound legit. They're not experts.
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They're not qualified. Honestly, they barely googled
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it. So grab a drink, lower your
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expectations, and let's pretend this counts as content.
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So buckle up. Facts are optional, but the
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bullshit? That's premium grade.
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This is Rick and that Michelle chick.
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Hello, what are you doing? I'm just ebaying right now so.
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You're not paying attention to me.
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What? Well, what are you doing?
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So I'm ebaying and, and so I've been trying, I've been trying.
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So for the last few years I've been trying to get this comic
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book, but but in my head there's only what I want to pay, what
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it's worth, what it's worth than what I want to pay for it.
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And so a lot So like the last five days.
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So when so you can with, with eBay, there is a, you can do buy
1:13
it now or, or you bid or you bid it up or you bid it up.
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And so the problem is when someone puts an item up and it's
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like 5 days until it concludes, you're bidding it up.
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And so, so like the last five days, somebody has been bidding
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up this comic book and the price.
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Of it. The price of it so, so it's
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like, so in my mind, I only wanted to spend in my mind, I
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only want to spend a couple $100 on it.
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And So what happened is they've been bidding it up and they got
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past the $200, not $200 mark. Hang on a second.
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We got dogs underneath the thing you.
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Have all kinds of distractions today.
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The dogs eBay. Yes, all, all kinds of
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distractions. So that's, that's real life.
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So well, the all the cords are underneath the underneath the
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desk. And so so we get dog anyway, so
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there's this comic book. It's right, it's right there.
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That's what it is. But so, so it's not even a very
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good copy of it, but it usually goes for five to $600.00.
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And I've been chasing this one for a long time.
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And so in my mind I thought, OK, I'll pay 200 bucks, right?
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200 bucks. So the last five days now,
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everything that I've gone and searched online, anywhere and
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everywhere, this comic book has been 300 plus.
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So this copy's been sitting about 200 bucks.
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I'm like, OK, that's where I want to be in this.
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Great, you know the value of this comic.
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Book well, OK, I mean, you know with yes, anything is what when
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it's so funny, people are like, oh, you have expensive comic
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books. Well, a comic book is only is
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worth what someone's willing to pay for.
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It. And someone had just found a
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six, a $6 million Superman comic book.
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This. Yeah, that's all over the news.
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New York Post has written about it, and it's a Superman number
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one that was in somebody's attic, and so it's from
3:02
194019381940. And so it had been up there
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forever, perfectly preserved. No.
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So, so it it's graded out of a 10, it's a nine, which means
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that they'll be able to sell that probably for about $6
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million. And then people are like saying
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conspiracy, blah, blah, blah. How is that possible?
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But it is people find these things all the time, as you
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know. Yeah.
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So, so this, this particular book, it, I mean, it's not
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compared to a $6 million comic. Not millions, but no just.
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Hundreds. It's hundreds, it is hundreds.
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And so I've been watching for five days.
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I looked everywhere else and everywhere else it's been priced
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at 300. So I thought, OK, if I get it
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for 200, it's going to be good. Well, somebody kept bidding
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against me and so I got. So I thought, you know what I
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will put? I went to 2:50 and then I
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finally said OK my cut off IS300 right?
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Right. So the last couple hours I've
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been watching it and I'm like, son of a bitch, I'm going to win
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this thing for 250. Bucks How much time is left?
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There's none. It's already done.
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It's already. Done.
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So you and you won the bid. I I won it, but this morning a
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comic book version of it which I thought was a little better.
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What? A little better went up for sale
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for 220 and you could just buy it for 220 so I so I had
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already. Bid.
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Yeah. So I already bid two.
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Well, I bid 300 right, Got it for 2:50, but I could have
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gotten it for 225 and probably a better copy.
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Right. So but you can you.
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Can back out and say I don't. I changed my mind.
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So on eBay, on eBay that you have a feedback feature, Yes,
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Hang on a second. Hang on a second so they think
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it's wrestling time. They think it's big time
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wrestling so anyway, so yes so so yeah so I went on so a copy
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went online today for 225 bucks. I would much rather pay 225
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bucks and it looked like and it looks like it's a better copy So
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but but there's but you do have your feedback.
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So eBay has got feedback. So my feedback I've been on
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eBay. I've been on eBay since 2000,
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but even if you. Back out.
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That doesn't mean that someone's going to give the feedback.
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They can, yes, they can say because so they.
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Can, but that doesn't mean that they will or don't.
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Take that risk. My my feedback I've.
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Had people back out of stuff I've sold and I don't do that so
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yeah, I'm well, you're I stopped about it, but.
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So, so I'm also in all these, so I'm also in these comic book
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groups that, that people collect comic books and stuff, right?
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So if someone backs out, they'll flame you, they'll put up your
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you're like this person said. Oh my God.
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And then, and then they show the messages, I mean, some of the
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messages, I, I concur, some of the messages are like, hey, my
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kid, my kid, you know, bid up the auction.
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Da, da, da, da, da. Sorry, I can't, I have to back
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out all these different things. And so you, you, you know, eBay
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is all about your, your, your feedback and so and so.
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To some degree, but it's also, I mean trying to sell things now,
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right, which I'm like a top seller, but.
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Well. You know, you basically have to
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advertise. It's no different than being a
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business with Facebook or Instagram.
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You pay, you have to pay to play.
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Basically, they're just trying to get more money out of you.
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So a lot of times people don't see any of your stuff.
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I mean, yeah, comic books probably like everybody's like.
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Well, but, but also it's like, you know, if you, if you agree
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to buy, if you go, you know, if you go to an auction and you're
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in a crowd and you do your paddle, you do your paddle and
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it, you know, it gets too rich for your blood, but you keep
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going. It's kind of like gambling,
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right? I, I feel like, hey man, you're
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committed to that because that, that's, I guess at the end of
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the day, that's the right thing to do.
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Right. You committed yourself and and
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and one thing they love to do in the comic book groups.
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If I if I said, hey, I found a better copy elsewhere.
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Oh your name. So they cut and paste you.
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They cut and paste, you put it into the group and say ban this
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person. That's crazy that that that is
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crazy on so many different levels.
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And I, you know, and again and again, this, this book, I mean,
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the difference right now is I paid what, $25 more than the
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other copy? But the other copy is better.
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Though it is better, it is well, I don't I or again, I don't have
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both in front of me, but you know, and and you have the
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photos like you said, you could have the photos.
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It looks better, but it looks. Better from photos.
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I mean, one thing I could do, which I one thing I could do on
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eBay, which I've never done, is I could actually buy both copies
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and turn around and sell the other one.
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Right. Yeah.
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But but. You might not get what you paid.
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Right. There's no guarantee someone's
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going to bid that thing up to 250 bucks so I get my money
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back. Yes.
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You know, and then and then Oh my God, and then here's the
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deal. Here's why I really don't want
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to ever sell on eBay is because the people are freaks.
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Like in terms of packaging and if it's not perfect and.
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All these. Books.
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Oh yeah, Oh my gosh. I again, I remember I'm in these
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groups and the the people are insane.
8:12
Oh gosh, I wonder if records are the same because I just sold.
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I had all my mom's like Elvis Presley records and I sold them
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on eBay. It was just, I sold them all
8:23
together. They were in horrible condition
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though, I mean not great condition.
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And so I had to send them all together.
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And now I'm questioning if there's a whole separate record
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group that they you have to package them a certain way and
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blah blah blah. Because I just had to put them
8:41
together in a box and figure out how to keep them from not
8:44
breaking and getting where they needed to get shipped and.
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You get yeah, seller feedback, see, and you're all yes, you're
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just. Yes, Oh gosh.
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Yeah, No, no, I, I mean, it's again, it's like depends on if
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you're selling a lot and you got to keep your, like you said,
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your seller feedback's got to be 100% or at least 99% and all
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that. And yeah, on the flip side, I
9:07
could turn around that copy. I just noticed that copy's still
9:09
up there for 220 bucks. So I so already I'm 250 in,
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right. I could turn around and buy that
9:15
other copy for 2:20 and then sell one of them.
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Right, but either of the two? But I but then I'm also like,
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well, you already have a copy so funny, hilarious story.
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You're going to love the love the stories because what
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happened was many years ago. I was at a comic book convention
9:33
many years ago. This is probably the late 90s
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and in my collection I have what they what it's a giant size
9:40
X-Men from 1975 second or third appearance of Wolverine.
9:44
It's a massive key. People want this book.
9:47
I have it in my collection. And so I even when I was in high
9:51
school, a buddy of mine, Kurt's had a copy and I just drooled
9:57
over his copy. And he always said, hey, I have
9:59
an X-Men giant size, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
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And I was always jealous of his giant size X-Men.
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Well, when we graduated high school, he showed up at my
10:07
apartment one night when once he was an adult, once he was an
10:10
adult, showed up at my apartment one night and goes, hey, man, do
10:14
you want to buy my giant size X-Men?
10:16
You know, and I went, well, yeah.
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And and he goes, well, you can buy it for 50 bucks.
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So I bought the book for 50 bucks right now it's probably
10:26
valued at 3 to $4000. So that.
10:30
Is a great return on investment. So I, so I had the book in my
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collection. I had it graded.
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It's a graded book. So, so on a, on a scale of out
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of 10, it's a 7. I mean, it's a 7.
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It's not. You know, explain what graded
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means. So do you take it to someone who
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is like a comic book professional and they grade it
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based on? Certain criteria.
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So there's CZ, Yep, Yep. So there's so many.
10:55
So there's so and there's a ton of of companies.
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So there's PGX, CGC, CBCS. I mean, I don't ever talk about
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this stuff because I always think that people think it's
11:03
boring. So I never talk about.
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I mean, it's just interesting. I mean it's kind of the same.
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If you buy an autograph baseball, there are companies
11:12
that will authenticate it, especially if there's nothing
11:15
that comes with it or so. Companies.
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That do that too. So Yep, PSA is the big grader in
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when you're talking about collectible cards, different
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things like that, same as stamps, same as coins, same as
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all of that. And so for a comic books, it's a
11:29
scale of of 1 to 10 basically. And then it starts.
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So technically the it's, it goes in the opposite direction.
11:35
So it starts at 10 and then they grade you down.
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Not one, not, not one on up. They they they start at 10 and
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they start knocking things off until they get to the grade.
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So I have this giant size X-Men, you know, one of the crown
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jewels in my collection. It's a 7 out of 10.
11:50
It's not perfect but for 50 bucks and value it's pretty 4.
11:53
1000 that's. Pretty good, pretty good return
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on investment when I get ready to sell it.
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So I'm at this convention years ago, probably 20 up actually 25
12:02
years ago now. And I walk in and I walk in and
12:05
there's this guy who was just setting up and I had gotten to
12:07
this convention early and and there what he had an X-Men 94,
12:14
which was kind of the sister, which is another book that's
12:16
three to $4000. It's the sister that Giant size
12:19
X-Men. And I, I got there early.
12:21
I said, hey, what do you want for that book?
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And it goes 05 bucks. So I bought you a serious.
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Yeah. So I bought its sister.
12:27
So I bought its sister. You know, I had the, I had the
12:30
brother and sister of it. Well, he had another copy of
12:33
Giant Size X-Men. And I go, what do you want for
12:34
that? And he goes O20 and stupid me in
12:39
my mind goes, well, I already have a copy.
12:43
No, why does my that's just the way my brain works.
12:47
So my brain goes, I've already I already have a copy.
12:50
I don't need it. Well, idiots, all these years
12:54
later, that's a that's a three to $4000 comic book.
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Even then, even then it was probably $1000.
13:01
Then. There was 1000, probably back
13:02
even 25 years ago. It was.
13:04
It was easily an 8 to 800 to $1000 comic book so that.
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Was a great return on investment.
13:10
You know, you buy it for 20 bucks and turn around and sell
13:12
it for, you know, 800 to 1000. Bucks it's so funny growing up
13:17
poor and then and then being taught by Pearl and Russell, my
13:20
foster parents. To me it's almost like, well you
13:23
already have 1 Virgil there, you're just being greedy.
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Yes, yeah. I mean.
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That's, that's how, that's how mom raised me was like, no, you
13:29
already have your copyright. Yes, I mean, I kind of hear that
13:34
voice when I go to the store because I love the holiday, the
13:39
chocolate like peppermint Creamer for the holidays and
13:44
it's only there for a limited amount of time.
13:47
Sure. And I will take, I will fill my
13:49
cart up, but I will always leave like a one or two because in my
13:53
mind I'm like, OK, there's somebody else that is going to
13:56
want this too. And you have to not be selfish,
14:00
right? Right.
14:01
Other people when it. Right.
14:02
What is that? What?
14:03
Yeah, again, what's that about? And.
14:04
My kids are like just take all of them mom like who cares you?
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Know yeah, why, why does why again, why does our why does our
14:11
brain work like that? So, yeah, so I was like, oh, I
14:13
already I already have a copy. So going back to this book I
14:16
just bought, which I spent 250 bucks on, which is a lot.
14:20
So to me, I have a limit. I don't yeah, it takes me a lot
14:24
to get to that because to me it's like, as much as I love all
14:29
the I mean, the comic books I have, it's like, I've never I
14:32
mean, nowadays because they've gotten so expensive, even in
14:37
poor condition, I do have to pay at least a couple 100 bucks for
14:39
them no matter what. But, but it's like I, there's
14:44
just A, to me, it's like, as much as I love collecting them,
14:48
it's like I would never put my family in jeopardy.
14:51
So, so I would love to own a Spider man #1 I'd love to own a
14:55
Fantastic Four number one. And, and in what they call the
14:58
higher grades like A10 or A98 or whatever.
15:01
But it's these, this is like $10,000, you know, for those,
15:06
no, for those kind of books. We're just talking about the New
15:08
York Post. And they, they found a Superman
15:11
#1 from 1940. And it was in, it was in an old
15:14
lady's attic and it was perfectly preserved.
15:16
It's a nine out of 10 and it's going to sell for $6 million.
15:20
That's crazy. Can you imagine being this
15:22
lady's kids and finding this comic book?
15:24
And well, thank God nobody sold it for 5 bucks.
15:28
So, So what makes this story so unique?
15:31
And it's all over the news right now.
15:32
New York Post has got it. Everybody's got it is the fact
15:34
it's it's the complete opposite. So all the kids, the reason why
15:38
some books are so rare, like let's say the Golden Age and
15:41
Silver age, is because mom threw out all the comic books she did.
15:45
So that was, that was a big thing, especially during the
15:48
war. So that's the, so it's, it's not
15:51
just the fact you can't get a copy of it.
15:53
Let's say Action Comics number one or Detective 27, which is
15:55
the first Prince of Batman. The problem is it's, it's rare.
15:59
So, so, and I like when people say this about collectibles.
16:03
It's like it is something truly rare.
16:06
Or if you've got a lot of money, there's a lot of copies
16:08
available. Well, with comics like that
16:11
there's not a lot of copies available, hence the reason.
16:15
Is rare. It really is rare.
16:17
And So what happened was because of the war effort and the, the
16:20
war bonds and you know, paper, paper, aluminum, they, they
16:25
recycle. So even though that book is
16:28
$0.10 back in the day, those Superman's or those Batman's,
16:32
those early comic books got recycled, got recycled and it
16:36
wasn't until and even maybe the Silver Age where they started
16:41
saving for, they started saving comic books and stuff like that
16:43
and preserving them. So the Golden Age is, is the
16:46
most rare of all, of all of it. So your Action Comics, your
16:48
Superman, your Wonder Woman's, they're the rarest and they are
16:51
ridiculously expensive in any in any, in any form.
16:56
Right. And and I have for my own
16:59
personal collection. The oldest I have is Superman
17:03
#4. I've got I got Superman #4.
17:06
That's pretty. Good which?
17:08
Which Micah? Which I bought at Ron's Coin and
17:11
Book in Yakima. Oh, you did remember.
17:13
Remember that? Remember that comic book?
17:15
So. So what happened was Micah went
17:16
around and begged people for money to surprise me.
17:21
Remember, they bought this comic book.
17:24
Have you forgotten you paid for that?
17:25
Yeah, I totally forgot about that.
17:27
Yeah. Well, it's a horrible OK, so
17:29
just put it on record. It's not in great condition.
17:32
Horrible copy. Like it?
17:34
It's, yeah, it's a horrible copy, but it was $350.00.
17:38
Well. But it's missing pages.
17:40
I mean, it's still got its cover.
17:41
It's but it's missing pages. But it is, it is a Superman #4
17:45
from 1940. So right now even in its
17:48
condition, it's probably 7700 to 800 bucks.
17:51
So it's gone up. Right.
17:53
Yeah, the value's gone up and and Mike, I think got it for me
17:56
what, 10 years ago or something like that.
17:57
But he did I well, actually, technically I got it free
17:59
because it's a present. Right.
18:02
But but I oh, I thought you were.
18:03
I know you were. You probably have long
18:04
forgotten, but you were part of that.
18:05
Oh. Yeah, I'm sure.
18:07
I'm sure I really gave some money for that.
18:09
Yeah, so my kid gone around the building and said, hey, you
18:11
know, 20 bucks, everybody. And they and they bought this
18:14
book as a surprise. So it's pride, Pride and joy, I
18:17
guess. So, yes.
18:18
I, you know, I don't get to talk about comics that often.
18:20
I could sit and talk forever. And, you know, one of the one of
18:25
those, oh, it was so funny. I will talk.
18:28
I will tell you a quick story. You're going to laugh.
18:31
So the movie coyote ugly, you know, and your old friend
18:36
Christina. You remember Christina, your
18:39
friend old friend Christina in in that movie Coyote ugly.
18:43
It's an amazing spider man 129. Remember that that movie where
18:46
he he sold his comic book but she thought it was drugs?
18:49
Right. Yeah.
18:50
And so and the comic was Amazing Spider Man 129, which is the
18:53
first appearance of the Punisher.
18:55
She texted me and goes, Virgil, do you have, do you have that
18:58
copy? You know, and I said, yeah, I
19:01
said I do have a copy. I mean, I do have a copy of
19:03
that. And it's a, you know, it's $1000
19:05
comic book. You know, it's $1000 comic book.
19:07
And she goes, oh, let me see it. So I sent her a picture of my
19:10
Amazing Spider Man 123. So I, you know, I mean, I know
19:14
how much she loves, I know how much she loves money.
19:16
So it's not a, it's not a Louis Vuitton.
19:21
It's not a it's not a what is it?
19:23
It's not a Louis Vuitton, but but it's pretty.
19:26
It is. It is pricey and and I have a
19:28
graded so so I don't have a lot of graded comics, but I have a
19:31
little bit. I expect the money to have some
19:33
of them graded so. Great, the ones and.
19:35
They're for my side and they're what's that?
19:38
Yeah, the ones that need to be graded.
19:40
Yeah, I think of it, yes. To me, To me, I look at it like
19:43
that's my classic car. Right.
19:46
So, so when people, you know, ask, hey, what do you collect?
19:49
I collect comic books. But again, it's my thing and but
19:54
but I never over, I never overspend on anything.
19:56
And and that way that that at least they'll be able to resell
20:01
it once I'm dead. Yeah.
20:02
Yeah. Hopefully, and it's funny
20:04
because Logan's hilarious because Logan's going to get the
20:06
comic books. And so I wanted to do a little
20:08
man time bonding with Logan. And so I'm like, I'm like, son,
20:14
don't you want to sit down with your dad and let's go to the
20:16
comic books and let's talk about what we got.
20:19
You're right. And I said, I said the first
20:20
appearance of the Punisher, the first appearance of Wolverine,
20:22
the first appearance of this and why it's valuable.
20:25
And he's like, and he's like, Dad, there's this thing called
20:28
the Internet. If I want to look up at once,
20:31
you're dead. If I want to look up what
20:32
they're worth, I'll do it. So then he can't get all the
20:39
stuff coming from you. Like This is why this one is
20:43
valuable and right, Right. And like you just said, the
20:46
sister to the X-Men and the brother.
20:48
Right, right. Exactly the thing I didn't.
20:50
Even know that the thing until you started rattling it off so
20:54
he's never going to know this stuff like.
20:56
Yeah, yeah. So there's a there's a story,
20:58
you know, there's a story behind some of the books, you know,
21:00
and, and, and they do have, and I know exactly where I was when
21:03
I got them, same as my buddy. And it's so funny, my buddy
21:06
Kurt, who sold me that X-Men years ago, I I met up with him
21:08
in Seattle and he goes, he goes, man, one of my biggest regrets
21:12
was selling my giant size X-Men. He goes, I just don't know where
21:15
it went. And I went, I went, I've got it.
21:20
Oh, I would have just been like, oh, I don't know either.
21:22
No, no, I just said, hey, dude, I got it.
21:25
It's in good hands. And so it's so funny.
21:26
Is a lot of people so really quick because I know this is
21:29
going long on this stupid subject, but, but Peter McClain,
21:33
you know Peter McClain from the radio station, I did spend $5000
21:38
on a collection from him because he brought in a stack of comic
21:41
books. It was 220 comic books from his
21:44
childhood. Never, you know, they read, they
21:46
were well loved. They weren't meant.
21:47
I mean, I mean, they weren't meant but, but they were from
21:51
the Silver Age. So they were early Spider Man,
21:53
early X-Men, early Avengers and, and some nice books in there.
21:57
And anyway, he brought him to the station one day and I just
21:59
drooled over him And, and then he goes well and he goes, well,
22:03
what are you going to pay? You know, if I were to sell
22:05
them, I said I'll just, I said I'll give you $5000 right now.
22:09
And so that I think that was the most I ever paid ever, you know?
22:14
For any of them. For any of them, but, but I
22:17
always tell people the reason is there's 220 of them and and
22:21
they're in succession. So I bought like Avengers 25
22:25
through 50, Spider Man, Spider Man, you know, 10 through 30 or
22:31
whatever, whatever the numbers were.
22:32
I mean, that's good. Yeah.
22:34
So they're in succession, The books are in succession.
22:36
And then right in the middle of it, there is the first
22:39
appearance of the Silver Surfer, first Prince of Galactus.
22:42
I mean, there's some big books that alone are $1000.
22:45
But he got a fair, he got a good deal, he got a fair deal because
22:47
they're not meant, if they were meant, those books would be
22:52
$20,000. I mean each.
22:54
I mean there, but, and it's all conditioned, everything that you
22:56
do, same as coin collections, you know, stamps, all that.
22:59
It is all based on, on condition.
23:02
I would rather own something in my collection than have it have
23:05
to be the best, if that makes sense.
23:07
Right. Great.
23:09
So yeah, I got him, yeah. So it's like so I I would rather
23:12
they they you know, I would rather have I would have low
23:14
grade or have a you know, like this comic book I just bought in
23:16
nice condition. It's a it's 1012 hundred 3004
23:20
thousand dollars. My version is going to be a
23:22
couple 100 bucks, but I own it. But I have my own.
23:27
But I have my own copy of it. Yeah.
23:29
Yeah, I know. Isn't that crazy?
23:30
So there you go. Enough.
23:31
Enough comic book stuff. I could talk all day.
23:33
See, they got me down, right? I don't get to go.
23:35
I don't, Michelle, I don't get. Well, you weren't paying
23:37
attention to me. You were on your phone.
23:39
And I'm like I don't what is. It doing.
23:41
But no one, I don't there is nobody that has any interest.
23:47
I mean, I mean, OK, so there is AJ at work.
23:50
AJ at work is interested, but he buys today's comic books like he
23:55
bought he. He does have some older comic
23:57
books, yes, but but he buys all the modern stuff and I'm just,
24:01
I'm not into it. I'm.
24:02
Walking down. Yeah.
24:04
Oh well, you wish you had a walk.
24:06
Walking Dead #1I. Didn't even know it was a comic
24:08
book until. You told dollars thousand
24:10
dollars $1000 and invincible $1000.
24:14
What makes The Walking Dead? I don't have a copy of it but
24:17
what makes it so rare is when it was first when it first came out
24:20
it was only limited to like 3000 copies.
24:24
So you got to go condition and then and then the rarity of it,
24:28
there's only 3000 copies of The Walking Dead or whatever that
24:31
number, that number is, which jacks that number.
24:35
But yeah, I just, I just can't, I mean, I just can't imagine for
24:41
one comic book. I don't know what I would pay
24:42
for if I had an opportunity to buy something like that.
24:46
I don't know if I, I could pull a trigger on $1000.
24:49
I don't know. I just don't.
24:51
I mean, because as much as I like them, I'm like, it's still,
24:54
I mean, if I have extra money, then it's not a it's no, it's a
24:57
no brainer, but it's one. But who has extra money these
25:00
days? Exactly.
25:02
Or very up in. Yeah, so I'm do.
25:04
You think if you want, OK, say hypothetically you won the
25:08
lottery like one of the Mega Millions you had whatever it is,
25:13
$540 million. Oh yeah, whatever one of those
25:17
big Jack boxes. Do you think that you would then
25:21
buy all the comic books that your your little heart desires?
25:25
Or would you still be? No, no, I'd buy.
25:27
I'd oh, I'd buy. Oh, I'd buy the expensive ones.
25:30
OK. You wouldn't.
25:32
Have like caution like OK, I need to be sensible about this
25:37
and not go crazy off the deep end and buy.
25:40
Like the Six? $1,000,000 Superman.
25:43
Good news is I don't think I would go I The good news is I
25:45
don't think I would go crazy off the deep end, but I definitely
25:48
so there are certain things in life that I would love to own.
25:50
Number one, for me, a classic Mustang Oh, would be would be
25:55
awesome, like a Mustang from the 60s, a 65 Mustang.
25:58
Oh, absolutely. You know, I do love Mustangs.
26:00
We don't talk about that, but I do.
26:02
So there are certain things that I think would be cool to own and
26:05
if I had the money, those are the little things that I would
26:07
splurge on. But the nice thing about I don't
26:09
know about, I don't, you already know, I don't have expensive
26:13
taste like, like there's nothing.
26:16
I mean, things that other people buy, like a yacht or a camper or
26:22
a trailer. I mean, I don't need in, in, in
26:27
in the sense of all those things.
26:28
I don't need the, the crazy, the crazy $300,000 trailer, you
26:32
know, or different things like that.
26:34
Would I buy it for comic books? Oh yeah, probably I I buy, I buy
26:39
now within my budget and you and you are right, if I really want
26:42
to go buy $1000 or a $5000 comic book, I could sure do it.
26:46
But I I just that sensibility from being poor is like you have
26:52
a comic book, dude, that's worth what are you going to do?
26:55
So the one things that the one things I have got to do in the
26:58
future is I've got to invest in a fireproof safe because yeah,
27:03
because I do have some books that you the, the, the moral
27:06
worry for me is being not being able to replace them.
27:08
So I talk about it in my book. When I was a kid we had a house
27:12
fire. Yeah, yeah.
27:13
So all these books that I own, giant size X-Men, that that
27:17
Punisher one, that the first Prince of Wolverine, those are
27:21
all from what they call the Bronze Age, which is right in
27:22
the middle of 70s. I had those as kid.
27:25
I had those cheap. I had them and they burnt they,
27:29
they went up in, they went up in flames.
27:30
So I've had to rebuy those those really expensive books at a way
27:35
more exaggerated price than I had when I owned them as a kid.
27:38
Right. Right.
27:39
So, so the nice thing is, I mean, just when you think about
27:43
it, it's it's crazy that I'm just, I'm basically just buying
27:45
back my childhood and a lot of and you know what?
27:50
And men do that believe that. I think.
27:52
I think that's one of the things that's interesting about men's
27:54
men's psychology is women. It's so funny.
27:58
The difference between Megan, I guess Megan, the way her brain
28:01
works is if she could purge all my crap, she probably would
28:05
purge all my crap because she doesn't have the emotional men
28:08
are very men are sentimental about stuff.
28:11
So when you look at their favorite baseball team or their
28:13
favorite football team, it all comes down men.
28:17
Men like nostalgia, I think more so I'm not saying women can't be
28:23
nostalgic, but but I think women are more sensible.
28:27
Yes, but I think we do like to relive our youth, especially
28:33
when it comes to taking us back to that place.
28:37
So like take New Kids on the Block, for example, right?
28:40
It's all women of my age. And now we have the disposable
28:44
income to go to those concerts and it's taking us back to when
28:48
when you're 1516 years old, even though we're not, but we want to
28:52
try to think that we are. So I think in that regard, we're
28:55
kind of similar, men and women. Yeah, I think, I think women are
28:58
willing to do pay for the experience, yes.
29:01
And experience of, of that where men will go out and buy a gun,
29:06
they'll buy a truck, they'll buy something that makes, that makes
29:10
their minds of their, of their childhood.
29:12
Not to say that men, I mean, I know men and women are, I know
29:14
men, men and women are, are, are similar in that, no, there's no
29:17
doubt about it. But I think the nostalgia is a
29:20
little, some can be sometimes a little different.
29:22
Right. And I think depending on how you
29:24
grew up, like for you and I, I think those of us that were kind
29:28
of robbed of our childhood or had to grow up early when we
29:31
were a child then I think now we are trying to be that kid and
29:37
have that childhood that we didn't have.
29:39
I mean, kind of like Michael Jackson syndrome.
29:41
I was just. Going to say that's the number
29:44
one person I think. About we just don't have the
29:46
money. We just don't have that much.
29:48
Well, yeah, but we talked about that.
29:50
If I had, yeah, we talked about that Superman #1 I'd be like,
29:53
buy it. Yeah, yeah.
29:54
I don't know if you're people. Nicola Well, OK, so a lot of
29:57
people don't realize this is where this is where I go down
29:59
the rabbit hole. So Nicolas Cage, right?
30:01
The actor. Yes.
30:03
Is a huge, massive comic book fan.
30:05
Oh, he is so. I know he's.
30:08
Very. He's very eccentric, like he has
30:10
a pet. What is it like Raven or Crow or
30:13
something like? But, but he's, but he owned, he
30:16
owned Action Comics, number one. It got stolen from him.
30:20
So he ended up getting a, he ended up getting an insurance
30:22
payout of $2,000,000. But he did have one of the 100
30:26
copies. There's only 100 verifiable
30:28
copies in the world of the first appearance of Superman.
30:32
So that's why they go for $6 million or $2,000,000 apiece.
30:35
So many years ago, Nicolas Cage had a copy.
30:37
It got stolen. He filed an insurance claim on
30:40
it, got his money back, and then they found it in a storage shed
30:44
like in California somewhere. And so it went up for auction
30:47
again and resold. But a lot of people don't
30:50
realize that Nicolas Cage is his his his last name.
30:54
Cage comes from Luke Cage, which is Power Man for Marvel Comics.
31:01
Luke Cage. So Nicolas Cage.
31:03
Yeah, it's a comic book character.
31:05
So he's not yes. So so he's Nicolas Coppola.
31:07
As you know, he's from the famous Coppola family.
31:10
But Nick Cage, Nick Cage comes from from comic books.
31:14
Gene Simmons, another massive comic book, the whole kiss
31:18
motive, you know, the costumes and the makeup and all that, all
31:22
based all based on want to be superheroes, basically Elvis
31:26
Presley, the way Elvis pressed in the dressed in the white
31:29
jumpsuit with the Cape. You know, Captain Marvel Junior
31:33
was his inspiration. He loved that character.
31:35
And if you look at his airplane, it says taking care of business
31:37
and it has a Captain Marvel lightning bolt on it.
31:41
So, yeah, I mean, because I've been to, yeah, I've been to
31:43
Graceland and they go out to see the the plane and all that.
31:46
Like I go Captain Marvel. So it's, you know, now when
31:51
you've got money, you know, you could have all those cool, those
31:54
cool toys and different. Things like that.
31:56
Yeah. Well, Speaking of money, I want
31:57
to talk about the price of coffee.
31:59
Let's get Yeah, Rock Center. I'm not a coffee drinker.
32:02
Let's clarify. No, you're not.
32:03
But what's your paying? What's?
32:04
Your paying for coffee. What's your?
32:07
Well, so it's mainly the price of my coffee at the coffee stand
32:10
has not gone up yet, knock on wood, but it is the coffee that
32:14
I buy in the grocery store. So I drink you ban which my
32:16
grandma started drinking that when I was a kid ever since I
32:21
was like 9 when they would give me coffee like this is.
32:24
So this is what I have continued to force everyone in my
32:26
household to drink right. So before the election like the
32:30
larger size can I think it's like 38 oz.
32:34
I could be wrong but I think that's what it is.
32:36
It was $9.99 before the election.
32:40
So pre like this time last year, then around I want to say after
32:46
the election, like January, it went up to $12.99 and I'm like,
32:50
OK, like that's not bad. Then come like springtime, it
32:55
went from 1299 to 1799. And then recently, just
33:00
recently, it jumped up when the tariffs hit, it went up to
33:03
$21.99. And I'm just like, what?
33:09
Which OK, we cannot grow coffee. We can't grow bananas.
33:13
We just don't have, we don't have the climate.
33:15
We don't have. It's just not possible to grow
33:18
them in America. So they have to be imported.
33:21
So I mean, I'm just like, what at this point, like if coffee
33:26
keeps going up because I cannot quit it, I mean, there's just no
33:29
way. It is my vice.
33:31
Like I'm going to have to start an only fans page.
33:36
No feed picks, feed picks. No, I'm only gonna be feed
33:38
picks. But I'm just like like what am I
33:41
gonna do? Like I, I go to the coffee stand
33:44
every day and this has gone up to like I think I pay $6.75,
33:50
which I mean is more than like a pack of cigarettes a day, but
33:53
still like I'm in the same category as someone who smokes
33:56
this a pack of cigs every day basically.
33:58
Like it is my. Bike 999.
34:03
I yeah, I was going to say, I think they're close to like $10
34:05
or. 10 bucks but but gosh, my our parents are all my least.
34:08
My dad is like a 2 pack a day guy.
34:10
That's twenty. Yeah, looking back, that's 20
34:12
bucks a day. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
34:14
So anyway, so that is what has happened to coffee.
34:18
I know you are, we're a Mountain Dew drinker.
34:20
And I know like pop has gone up a little bit, but not.
34:23
Yeah. So not like that like that.
34:25
Is a jump. Yeah, I drink, I drink sugar
34:27
free. I, I drink sugar free soda now.
34:29
I, I drink Zivia and then A&W actually tastes pretty good
34:34
sugar free. And so that's 2:50.
34:35
If you're buying, you're buying just one of those 250.
34:38
So yeah, but, but again, I was thinking about candy bars.
34:42
Candy bars. That's what I said.
34:43
Then went out because chocolate again.
34:45
We can't grow chocolate here like it is.
34:48
It is not possible. Yeah, candy bar is like, man,
34:51
back in the day you could grab a a pop and a candy bar for under
34:54
a buck. Now your candy bar is at least
34:56
$1.50, at least $1.50, maybe even $1.75.
35:01
And that's not even the king size.
35:02
King size. What run 225, something like
35:04
that 250. I mean, and and it's it's like I
35:10
like that someone had said. What was it?
35:12
I saw a great meme talking about, you know, hey, can it was
35:15
like, can we bring down the bring down the price of other
35:18
things? But why can't we bring down the
35:19
price of groceries? Right.
35:22
The problem is, is, yeah, we have all these tariffs and they
35:25
might go away or they might not. I mean, who knows at this point.
35:28
But even if they do go away, the history shows that these
35:33
companies do not lower the prices because now we are
35:36
trained that we are going to pay this XYZ amount.
35:39
Like I'm trained that now I'm going to pay $21.99 for my U ban
35:43
coffee and I'm just going to keep paying it.
35:46
And so they're not going to lower the price and they're just
35:48
going to rake in more money basically is what's going to
35:50
happen, so. I, as I as I have learned at
35:53
least, at least I've always felt is once, once the price goes up,
35:57
it's not coming back down. No.
35:59
It doesn't come back down so so even if we get through and that
36:02
was one of the interesting things when when we talk about
36:05
minimum wage 725 to me still and I don't yeah, we can talk all
36:10
day about it. I think it's an outrage.
36:12
I think it's outrageous to that people want people to still
36:18
survive on 7/25 an hour and and when FDR and when FDR passed the
36:24
the at least the minimum wage, it was supposed to be a livable
36:27
wage, right? It's.
36:28
Supposed to keep pace with inflation, which by.
36:32
So if you're going by that account, then minimum wage today
36:36
would be at least $26 an hour. I saw the article, I saw the
36:39
article, at least I saw the article and then it's
36:43
interesting that, and then it was interesting that.
36:46
I cannot believe people who defend corporations like, like
36:51
it's insane that they defend the corporation that that allows
36:56
this to happen. They're they're OK with the,
36:58
the, the CEO making just millions and millions and
37:01
millions and millions. Even in our own business, even
37:04
in radio, it's like the, the CE OS make millions and yet they
37:07
cut, they cut below, below just as many people as possible.
37:11
And then when and then when somebody tries to argue a
37:14
livable wage, they're like their, their their defenses, but
37:18
Walmart and McDonald's wasn't meant to be a livable wage.
37:22
Go to go to college, get a trade Well, number one, we fight
37:25
against people going to college. You know well if.
37:28
They are not going to pay tuition, Yeah.
37:30
You got and let's which. Is hundreds of thousands of
37:33
dollars. The IT it really true.
37:36
The one thing Logan and I talk about a lot is birth.
37:39
Like it's like it is a birth lottery.
37:43
At the end of the day, it's a birth lottery.
37:45
If you are able, Hey, let's say you're poor and you're able to
37:49
climb up to the middle class. Hey, congratulations, you did a
37:52
great, you know, on your own, you and I both.
37:55
I'm definitely I am, I am middle class, but but I can take you
37:58
back to the days of making 335 an hour.
38:00
I can take you back to 225 an hour.
38:02
I can take you back there and me working my butt off and and then
38:07
trying to see. I seized every opportunity
38:09
possible that came down, that came down the the road for me.
38:14
I had to move my family a lot. I didn't get a choice to stay in
38:17
my family. You know, I didn't get a choice.
38:18
I had to make a lot of different difficult decisions to try to be
38:21
successful. And people don't realize that
38:23
when you're born to a doctor or a lawyer that has financial
38:28
resources, those things are just automatic.
38:31
Like you're automatically, you know, So we're yeah, the, the,
38:35
the, the price of everything, the inflation and, and this,
38:39
this need, the need to keep somebody else down to keep them
38:43
from being successful just just blows my mind.
38:47
And it's inter, like you said, we were talking about at least
38:50
the minimum wage when they pass that.
38:52
And, and to me, if you're working at Walmart, if you work
38:55
at McDonald's, if you're flipping burgers, you get just
38:57
as much respect for me as anybody else.
39:00
Right. Not everyone is capable of going
39:03
to college and and maybe that maybe they want to make
39:06
McDonald's their career, maybe they don't.
39:10
And there's nothing to be. No, you know, you should not be
39:14
treated less than a doctor or a lawyer or whoever it.
39:19
Is what angers me as I had AI had to block a friend on
39:22
Facebook a few years back because we got into that
39:24
argument and I and she was like, no, they need you know, they
39:27
they deserve to make 7/25 an hour.
39:29
I'm like, I'm like, your ass is going through jack-in-the-box
39:31
and jack-in-the-box and you're shoving a big ass burger in your
39:34
fat face. You know what I'm saying?
39:37
Because you think you're better, you think that they've, that
39:40
they serve you, you know, because you've got $3.35, I
39:44
mean, or whatever, 5 bucks you, you know, and it's like, it's
39:48
like the empathy, the empathy for people has gone away.
39:52
There is no empathy and, and the entitlement, the entitlement is
39:57
insane of you owe me. And that, that's crazy.
40:02
So, so I've always felt that once you get a little bit of
40:05
wealth or a little bit of success.
40:06
You turn around and do your best to pull the other people along
40:09
with you. Great you help.
40:10
Out doesn't mean you have to give up your wealth.
40:12
I love when they I love when people say, well, you're just a
40:14
socialist. You just want to spread people's
40:16
money around. No, I don't.
40:17
I don't. I had a boss her and I used to
40:19
get all these these arguments all the time, right.
40:21
I don't give a shit that you make 300 four 100,000 compared
40:25
to my 30,000. I don't give a shit how much
40:28
money you live make. I don't care that you live in a
40:29
bigger house. I don't care that you got a
40:31
swimming pool. I don't care what you've got.
40:33
It's like but I'm making $30,000 so I should get even a 1% to 3%
40:40
raise a year for my hard work. If I perform, you should, you
40:44
should reward me. And in radio people go 1015
40:50
years without any income or any raise and they're doing that,
40:55
you know, and it, and it is skilled labor.
40:56
What they, it is skilled labor. And, and so and, and, and I'm
41:01
sorry, flipping a burger, that's skilled labor.
41:03
They should and and when and when and when the prices get out
41:06
of outrageous in terms of rent and all these different things,
41:09
this bullshit of oh, you know, well, you should move in with
41:12
somebody, you know, I'm sorry, not.
41:14
Everybody has somebody, though. That is the other thing.
41:17
Not everyone has family or has that support system that a lot
41:22
of us had that we're lucky to have.
41:24
Look at my mom, for example. She would not be able to afford
41:28
a place to live if it wasn't for me.
41:31
And she has that support system. So she, yeah, I don't know where
41:35
she would be living, maybe in her car or maybe with another
41:38
relative, but still. And we and we as a society don't
41:42
care. No, you know, we don't, we
41:46
don't, we don't care, especially when like like right now with
41:49
the snap situation and Pokey and I spent a year and a half year
41:54
and a half on on back then it was food stamps, right?
41:58
And and she had to take my timesheet in to DSHS.
42:01
And she goes, hey, your husband worked 80 hours this pay period
42:06
in a week. That's two full time jobs and
42:10
you guys still qualify for at least a little bit of food
42:13
stamps at 5 bucks an hour. Which there are families that
42:17
they work 2-3 jobs and they still can't now.
42:22
Now I used it renting food and utility.
42:24
And I used it for a year and a half.
42:25
I used it for a year and a half. And once I got out of that
42:27
situation, we didn't use it again.
42:29
Because that's what the those, that's what those things are
42:32
there for. They're, they're there for that.
42:34
We had WIC when when Logan was born, he could not, he Logan
42:38
could not take breast milk. He we, you know, he was a 10 LB
42:41
baby. He was born.
42:43
We were, I was making 5 bucks an hour at the radio station making
42:45
nothing, making shit. And I wasn't, it wasn't well,
42:48
you know, well, Ricks lazy. He's just a late.
42:51
Well, have you met? You've met me, haven't you?
42:53
Would would you? Would you think people would
42:54
call me lazy? No.
42:57
Not at. All.
42:59
Right. And so and so Logan couldn't
43:01
take breast milk. So we had we had WIC and so we
43:03
got the cheese, we got the peanut butter, we got the
43:06
formula, which was out outrageous.
43:08
And then we'd go to. Kirkland.
43:10
Yeah, it was outrageous back then.
43:11
And I remember that for Logan's diapers, we'd go to Kirk, we'd
43:15
go to Costco, Kirkland, it just opened up in Clarkston and that
43:18
was 20 bucks for, you know, a couple weeks worth of diapers.
43:21
So again, the the insensitivity, insensitive activity to people,
43:27
my mind is blown. And now I'm, you know, it's
43:30
like, and then even when you want to talk, well, well, people
43:33
who take this stuff is fraudulent.
43:35
What one percent, 2% maybe. I mean, so you penalize, you
43:39
penalize the people that need it.
43:41
Right. For just a, a, a small few, any,
43:44
anyone and everyone is going to try to work the system.
43:47
Rich people work the system when it comes to taxes.
43:50
How is that any different? Like you're still robbing the
43:53
government and us of your tax dollars by hiring these tax
43:58
attorneys and figuring how to put your money here or there or
44:02
whatever it is. So you're it's no different.
44:04
You're still robbing us of the money.
44:07
And so it's just crazy that that is that is what they think about
44:12
it like. Well, Donald Trump during his
44:15
campaign, when he was going against Hillary Clinton, she,
44:17
she brought that same subject up.
44:19
And hey, for one, I sided, I mean, I sided with Donald Trump
44:22
because he said he goes, you created a system, you created
44:26
the loop, you know, you created the loopholes.
44:28
And you can't be upset that I took advantage of those
44:31
loopholes. That's the rich.
44:33
That's the rich. You know what I'm saying?
44:34
And that is 100%, That's correct.
44:37
Use the system too or other. People.
44:39
Figure out how to use the system.
44:40
But what? But what Trump said, he was
44:43
correct when he said you created the system, you created the
44:46
loophole, and you can't be upset that I used it.
44:49
You know, you have got to close up those loopholes and, and, and
44:54
this this story about only illegal immigrants are on snap
44:58
or they're getting Social Security and all this stuff.
45:01
I'm curious tomorrow I will tomorrow I step in to find out
45:05
how much my insurance premiums are going up to Town Square
45:08
Media. Now the crazy thing right now is
45:11
because I'm in, I'm in. I'm very fortunate I'm in great
45:14
health. I have the highest deductible
45:16
possible at $7000 is my deductible right now and and I
45:22
and I pay in probably $7000 a year for my premium for my
45:28
insurance now. That means I have already put in
45:31
$14,000 before I even get any medical service.
45:36
Which is crazy to me. Why, why let why people can't
45:42
get on board with some kind of healthcare system in America.
45:47
Every other first world country has some type of system, which,
45:52
yeah, which there are good and bad in all of them.
45:55
OK, well, and then let's figure out what what are the good
45:58
points? What are the bad points?
45:59
OK, well, we're going to do ours Bing, Bing, Bing, Bing, Bing and
46:03
make it better. And when people say well Canada
46:06
has it, they have to wait a couple months to get into the
46:08
doctor. We have to fucking wait that
46:11
amount of time here in America. Now it isn't any different, but
46:15
we're paying $14,000 a year like you just said when we could just
46:20
be paying like however much it would be a few $100 in taxes.
46:24
I don't know what it's going to equal out to be, but we wouldn't
46:27
have co-pays. Most of these countries don't.
46:29
They don't even know what a co-pay is because they don't
46:32
have them. And it would make it so much
46:35
easier for everybody, everybody, because then everybody would
46:39
have insurance. There wouldn't be like Medicaid
46:41
and all that kind of business. It would just make life so much
46:45
easier for people and they wouldn't be dependent on their
46:47
job for their insurance and they can move around to whatever job
46:52
they wanted. A lot of people are stuck at
46:54
their job because they need that insurance.
46:57
Yeah, well, yeah. And again, it's like that's it's
47:00
so I mean, it's my mind is blown on again, like, you know, big
47:05
tax packs, big tax returns for the rich.
47:08
That's not socialism. No, but but if we help out, but
47:12
if we help out the family of four down the street, oh, you
47:14
know, them sons of bitches don't work hard enough.
47:17
And that's again. Again, it's a key.
47:19
Loans or whatever like. Or whatever.
47:22
Don't get me, don't get me, don't get me started.
47:26
Don't get me started on on all the the reps who used it and got
47:30
money and the list goes on and on and on.
47:32
Who got theirs? Who got theirs wiped away?
47:36
Oh yeah. That that's the list just goes
47:39
on and on. I don't know.
47:40
Again, I don't know what the solution is.
47:42
And I don't think and I don't think that in our lifetime, in
47:45
our lifetime, I don't think we're going to solve it.
47:46
I think at the end of the day, we're going to continue to
47:49
squabble and we're never going to come to a consensus.
47:52
And the sad. Sadly, the working poor and the
47:57
poor are the and even the middle and even the middle class are
48:00
the ones who. Suffer.
48:01
Yeah. Who?
48:02
Suffer, I mean, I think, I think what's interesting and I'm
48:04
gonna, I'll even throw this out here, you know, cuz, you know,
48:06
again, there are, I do have some Republican under socially.
48:11
I I already know, I'm not gonna lie.
48:13
Socially people probably already know.
48:15
Oh, he's a Lib. You're a social.
48:16
Dog Democrat as well. I'm a blue dog.
48:18
Democrat. So for me financially,
48:20
financially, I do want fiscal responsibility.
48:24
I want programs, you know, I want things, I want things to, I
48:28
want the, but I want the, the, the government to balance their
48:31
budget and the list goes on and on.
48:33
One thing I'm sorry I have to disagree with, and maybe you may
48:36
agree or disagree, is I think once someone gets over a certain
48:39
threshold in terms of of money that they make a year, it's
48:44
like, it's like I think that there there should be some, I
48:48
don't know, I think that Social Security should be less and less
48:51
for them somehow, like. Well, I mean because.
48:54
Remember, Social Security is based on what you make in a
48:57
lifetime. Right.
48:59
And those so the Elon Musk of the world, what are what is the
49:03
cap isn't like 100,000 or something.
49:06
I think it's 200. I think it's 200,000 or
49:08
something. Right.
49:09
So once you hit that, which he probably hits that in a day, and
49:13
he pays no more into it, just like you or I.
49:17
And I think that should be changed for especially the one
49:21
percenters of the world, that they could at least pay more and
49:25
that it just doesn't automatically stop when you hit
49:27
that $200,000 threshold, right? Right.
49:30
I think that there's I think there's just, I think there's
49:32
just different ways that we could there's, you know, again,
49:35
it's like you either close the loopholes in the in the taxes or
49:38
they're just things. I mean, because remember what's
49:40
interesting, I had an old station owner that he leased
49:44
everything. He leased everything.
49:47
So his brand new Cadillac. Tax write off.
49:50
Everything was everything was a write off Yeah, yeah.
49:53
He so his own personal stuff was all was all leased and different
49:58
things like that, right so. Anyway.
50:02
It's attack of the dog. My friend, she volunteers at a
50:08
food bank here in town and it's not the main one.
50:11
It's kind of like a smaller like branch of it.
50:14
And prior to this week, they would see about 80 families for
50:21
the week. And she said this week they saw
50:24
121. Oh my gosh.
50:26
And so again, it's not even a main one.
50:28
It's just like a small like branch off of the big one that
50:31
we have in town. And so I can't imagine what it's
50:34
going to be in the next couple weeks, so.
50:37
Yeah, I mean, and again, we can't solve, you know, we can't
50:40
solve the world's problem on this podcast.
50:42
I wish, I wish I could. I mean, my son and Logan and I,
50:45
we we go around and around and I mean, my son is so far, so far
50:49
left. Even me, I'm down, I'm more down
50:52
the middle. And it's like, but he goes,
50:55
well, yeah, we can. Well, people don't want to.
50:59
People have got to want to change or people have got to
51:02
want to fix the system. And the problem is we bicker
51:05
back and forth. And that keeps us from that,
51:09
keeps us from paying attention to the one percenters who are
51:13
just getting more money. Yep, exactly that are that are
51:16
just rake like they're raking it in left and right and that's and
51:19
that's a sad situation. And, and I mean, and I am again,
51:24
I'm always amazed on those that that defend that.
51:28
Yep, Yep. So may so make.
51:33
So Megan left. She brought the dogs in.
51:36
Oh, and then she just left you with the dogs.
51:38
Yeah, so she just left and so how?
51:40
So now we've got we've got Cairo and Cairo.
51:43
Cairo's a visiting dog. Yeah.
51:45
Yeah. And then you got Bodie and then
51:48
and then you got Barkley being police dog, so.
51:53
Well, I want to. Let's talk about the dogs since
51:55
what's along, Let's talk about the dogs because we're at like
51:58
50 minutes already. Because we spent like 20
52:00
minutes, thirty minutes talking about comic books.
52:04
But I want to talk about. The dogs, you want me to go?
52:06
I, you want to go throw these guys back outside, Hang on a
52:09
second, let's throw them out because that's all we're going
52:12
to do. That's all we're going to do.
52:14
Hopefully I let I let them all out.
52:16
I left everything wide open. So hopefully they'll they'll be
52:20
able to chill a little bit because now they have the run of
52:23
the house, that means they're going to destroy stuff.
52:26
Oh, Oh no, now you're going to be in trouble for that.
52:29
I will be. OK, well, I wanted to ask you if
52:32
you had the chance, would you clone like Barkley or Joe or
52:36
Phoebe if you could? Because Tom Brady cloned, oh,
52:40
Tom Brady cloned his dog. Is it Lua who died in 2023?
52:46
And so I was curious if you would do that because I know you
52:49
love your dog so much and I love my pets as well, and you would
52:54
do it. Oh, that's surprising it.
52:57
Was surprising. Why would it be surprising?
52:58
I don't know because my thought is OK, they might look the same.
53:02
So yes, like cloning Barkley, he would look the new Barkley would
53:06
look like the old Barkley, but they would not have the same
53:09
personalities so wouldn't be the same.
53:13
All the dog, I think, again, I think it goes down to we were
53:15
just talking earlier on the podcast, the nostalgia of it.
53:19
Right. You know, having that.
53:21
But it still isn't going to be the same.
53:23
Like it's not going to be Barkley as you know, Barkley,
53:27
even though it looks like Barkley.
53:29
Yeah, it's like having, it's like having kids that all look
53:32
similar but are nothing alike. Like you should know you got
53:34
four of them. Right, but they all.
53:36
Know they're all they're all little, they're all little
53:38
clones of Michelle and Jay, right?
53:40
But they are but. They're not exactly they are.
53:43
Little clones and and then and then.
53:46
Look how excited when you got the little grandbaby, which is a
53:48
clone of clone of of Benjamin, right.
53:52
So there you like I I, I look at it like the same exact
53:55
situation. If you could have a beloved pet,
53:59
if you could have a beloved pet, No, and you could keep them.
54:02
You know, it's not the same. I wouldn't.
54:04
No, and that's why I wouldn't because it wouldn't be the same.
54:08
Like, yeah, it would look like that pet said pet, but it
54:10
wouldn't have the same personality.
54:12
And I would. I just want to have the memory
54:15
of that original pet as it was and not the new.
54:19
Interesting. The new clone pet.
54:22
So Tom Brady cloned his dog. So he actually has a dog that's
54:25
cloned. Yes, Yep, yeah.
54:28
I'm all, I'm all for it, you know?
54:30
I mean, he can. Afford it Well, yes, I mean you
54:33
yeah so well one thing for my and I talk my first dog Joe,
54:37
there's no photos. So yeah, that's you know, like
54:40
like with Phoebe with Phoebe and Boomer and Barclay and Roxy and
54:45
and Bodhi. We've got so many photos, which
54:47
is nice yes so we and now and nowadays because of social media
54:52
and the phones, we've got videos we got tons of videos and
54:56
different things of them. So that's that's the nice
54:58
remembrance. But when you're a kid, when you
55:01
were a kid, you had a favorite cat or you had a favorite dog.
55:03
And back in the day, just like your school, you only had one
55:06
school picture a year. There was no other, basically no
55:09
other pictures of you. You would want, you would want
55:12
that. You would want that dog or cat
55:15
to be cloned. No, I would in a heartbeat.
55:18
I would. I would absolutely if I had the
55:19
money and the finances go back to my my lottery win of the
55:22
comic books and clone of my dog those.
55:24
Are going to be the things that you do.
55:27
Yeah, well, so so clone. Your so it's.
55:29
Interesting. After my first dog died, when I
55:32
was I talk about it after my first dog died, Joe, I did not
55:36
want any. I was going to.
55:40
Say you did not have a dog for a long, long time.
55:42
No, no, because I, because I loved him so much that I like
55:46
there was like there, like that's the gold standard.
55:49
Like there's no, there's no, there's nobody that's ever going
55:53
to reach that level in my mind. It's also one of the reasons
55:55
which we can talk about on a different podcast is why one of
55:59
the reasons why even though I want to, I'd love to be a foster
56:02
parent. I'd like to be a foster parent.
56:06
The problem is I had the greatest foster parents ever and
56:12
I just go, there's no way. Like, like they're so far up in
56:16
the stratosphere of the gold standard that I that I can't.
56:20
That you couldn't live up to that, but don't you think that
56:24
they would want you to continue and be a foster parent like they
56:28
did and help out that little boy that.
56:33
No. That's the little boy with the
56:34
big brown eyes looking up at them.
56:36
And Pearl. No, that's him, even though she
56:38
said no. That's a, that's a good
56:40
question. The reason #1 and we'll talk
56:43
about another podcast. But then another reason, Megan
56:46
says, is she looks at the dogs and how I treat the dogs and how
56:51
I manage the dogs, tells her that I'm going to be a horrible
56:53
foster parent. Because you'd be the pushover.
56:56
Because you would remember as the child what it was like, and
57:01
so you would then try to make up for whatever happened to said
57:06
child that you were fostering. Right, I get right?
57:08
Exactly. So I mean, it's hard for us when
57:11
we foster cats and kittens and they get ready to go on
57:14
transport. There are times that we have our
57:17
favorite and once I close the door when they pick them up,
57:21
like both Shaylee and I are bawling.
57:23
Like it's not easy. Like being a foster parent is
57:26
very difficult. Or fostering animals.
57:28
I mean, oh, right. A kid would be even harder.
57:31
But I mean, it's not. It's not an easy thing.
57:35
Yeah. Yeah.
57:36
Yeah, yeah. But you're but you're also.
57:39
It's a higher calling. Right, but you're helping stable
57:43
and basically. Yeah, but, but also, and we'll
57:48
talk about it in different podcasts, but it there's also a
57:50
lot of abuse and a lot of, you know, this goes on of of of
57:55
mistreatment of foster kids and all these different things.
57:59
So I just saw somebody, which I think would be an interest,
58:01
interesting conversation. I think Washington State just
58:04
posted something about the fact that foster parents don't have
58:09
to recognize a child's gender. So I thought that was
58:14
fascinating. So that's a conversation I think
58:18
we should have down the road in different podcast because like,
58:21
let's let's say you get a little foster kid and they identify as
58:24
a girl. You know, legally, legally, the
58:28
foster parent could say no, you're a boy.
58:32
So. I think that's, I think that's
58:34
fast. I mean, again, that's
58:36
fascinating because it's like, you know, me, I'm a big, I'm a
58:39
big supporter of you being you. And we're all different
58:44
genetically. And yeah, so it's like, and so
58:48
to have, especially to me, they're your foster parents, but
58:52
they're not your real parents right now.
58:54
For me, my foster parents will always be.
58:57
Very real. Well, they might as well.
58:59
I mean, I do have real parents. Yeah, but for me.
59:01
But but I have to explain to people when you are loved
59:05
unconditionally, like, like I look back with my foster
59:09
parents. You, you read my story, You
59:11
know, you read my my book. I, you.
59:14
I was so loved. Oh yes.
59:16
And, and, and if I and, and if you met my foster family today,
59:20
they're all adults, all my, my siblings, my foster siblings, if
59:23
I came out and I was and I went from Virgil to Virginia.
59:28
They wouldn't. There would.
59:29
Be nothing but love in that family, right?
59:31
Not one there would. Not be a second thought to to.
59:34
Them there would be no second, it would.
59:36
Not miss a beat, basically. One of the reasons, and I know
59:39
this to be a fact cuz I talk about it in my book, one of the
59:42
reasons I got placed with the bogans is because I was a
59:45
feminine little boy or a feminine, I guess.
59:49
I don't know how you would say that.
59:51
And so I was placed in a family that sports was the number one
59:54
thing and that was the demand. That was the demand of this
59:57
family. And they're a wonderful family,
59:59
the bond fields. I love them dearly to this day.
1:00:01
But I knew at at five years old, I'm like, I can't do this.
1:00:05
You didn't belong in that family.
1:00:07
No, I knew it. I knew it, I knew it.
1:00:10
And I talk about in the book. And then they, they, they, I got
1:00:12
the bogans came into my life. And so I know that one of the
1:00:16
reasons why I got placed with him is because of my, my
1:00:19
temperament, my personality, all these, all these different
1:00:23
things. And So what if I look at it
1:00:26
like, well, what if I was gay? What if I was gay at 5 or 6
1:00:29
years old and, and, and then I had a foster, the foster, my
1:00:35
foster family's like, no, you know, no, you're not.
1:00:39
Right. I mean, could you imagine the,
1:00:41
Can you imagine the damage done? I mean, that happens to normal
1:00:45
kids with regular their real parents all the time.
1:00:49
And not everybody knows that they're gay or whatever it is
1:00:53
gender fluid, whatever the case might be when they're young.
1:00:57
It's all different for each individual when they figure that
1:01:01
out, and that might be when they're 5 or when they're 50 and
1:01:05
it just. Knows.
1:01:07
Right, right. I, I, you know, at the end of
1:01:09
the day, yeah, yeah, yeah. You, you know, when you know,
1:01:14
and I, and, and again, I even jokingly talk about it in the
1:01:17
book when I, I was in that, I was in that tent with that
1:01:20
little girl. Nothing happened.
1:01:22
Just so you know, we're like 6 years old, seven years old.
1:01:24
Nothing happened, but I knew, right?
1:01:28
I knew. I knew.
1:01:29
I was like, oh, I like that. And I've never, and we joke
1:01:37
about it, but I've never deviated and you've known me a
1:01:39
long. Time you've never looked back.
1:01:41
No, I mean, there is no there is like you and I talked about.
1:01:44
There's no doubt, you know. Yeah, Yeah.
1:01:48
So but yeah. But again, you know, being an
1:01:53
effeminate male, even though I'm hetero, it's like people thought
1:01:58
as a little kid that I was gay that early or I had to lie.
1:02:01
But he's all I bet he's going to be gay going to be gay just
1:02:04
because you're not knuckle dragging, knuckle dragging your
1:02:08
knuckles down the road like an Orango me see woman me treat her
1:02:14
shitty. It's it's like, come on, I'm
1:02:20
sorry. All right, we're off the tandem.
1:02:22
Sorry there. Yeah, we're like this is going.
1:02:26
To get a zero star. No one's listening to this one,
1:02:30
or they're going to start and be like, no, not listening to any
1:02:33
more of this. If we lose, if we lose
1:02:35
listeners, it's because of me. Just like.
1:02:37
Oh goodness. No, it's just.
1:02:39
No, it doesn't matter. We.
1:02:43
Don't have very many to. Fix the system.
1:02:46
Yeah, fix the system. You got to fix it.
1:02:51
That's it for today's episode of Rick and That Michelle Che.
1:02:54
Thanks for hanging out with us. If you laughed, rolled your
1:02:58
eyes, or question our sanity even once, make sure you hit
1:03:02
that follow button. Don't forget to rate and review
1:03:05
the show. It helps people find our chaos.
1:03:08
And hey, share it with a friend. It could use a laugh.
1:03:11
We'll be back with more sarcasm stories and questionable life
1:03:15
advice next time. See ya.