Latest / The SEANC View / WakeMed-Atrium vote looms as Convention week arrives

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WakeMed-Atrium vote looms as Convention week arrives · The SEANC View

• 0:00
  Hello and welcome to another edition of the Scenic View podcast.
• 0:03
  I'm Jonathan Owens, along with artists Watkins, Suzanne Beasley, and Samantha Klein.
• 0:08
  We are in the short rows. We are down to the wire to get to the convention,
• 0:12
  so we need to get in and out on this episode, but we got some good things planned.
• 0:29
  As I said, we do have the convention coming up next week.
• 0:32
  I'm like in an unusually okay spot. Like I'm okay with all of our planning so
• 0:39
  much that it scares me. Do you get to that point? I think we're just at that
• 0:44
  point where, I mean, we've done everything that we can.
• 0:47
  Yeah. So, you know, it's going to be what it's going to be. We're always great
• 0:51
  at, you know, handling whatever may change once we get there.
• 0:56
  Yeah. I asked Samantha yesterday, I was like, what are we missing?
• 1:00
  It feels like we're missing something.
• 1:02
  Well, we'll know soon. Yeah. I mean, the members will tell us if we miss something. Oh, yeah.
• 1:08
  But, yeah, next week we will be coming to you semi-live from Greensboro,
• 1:12
  North Carolina. I think we're going to record on Wednesday, hopefully.
• 1:16
  But either way, you're getting a podcast next week. We just don't know exactly
• 1:20
  what it is or when it will happen.
• 1:23
  But if you're going to Greensboro, we look forward to seeing you and having
• 1:26
  a good time and doing a lot of work for the organization.
• 1:30
  We have a lot of follow-up stories this week to talk about. First off,
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  Suzanne, you brought to my attention that WakeMed had responded to Governor Stein's letter.
• 1:40
  Yeah, we just saw that this morning.
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  In the Triangle Business Journal. Basically, they were saying that they need
• 1:47
  to do this merger to be able to afford their capital projects.
• 1:52
  Is that what you took from it?
• 1:54
  Yeah, I'm scrolling through here. So over the past decade, WakeMed invested
• 1:59
  a billion in capital projects, and that's, you know, anticipated to increase,
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  which is part of the reason they claim they want to merge with Atrium.
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  To fund that. And we also had a story last week that they are doing a $900 million expansion, right?
• 2:16
  They have money for that. They seek to do that.
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  So the merger vote, well, the vote for the county commission will be next week,
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  right? The 8th? We don't know. I mean, they could vote anytime they meet,
• 2:25
  but the next time they meet will be on the 8th. Okay.
• 2:28
  Well, the Wake County commissioners have not officially said when they're voting.
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  And there was a story this week, also out of the Triangle Business Journal,
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  that two of the top executives at WakeMed are leaving, chief physician executive
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  and the COO, chief operating officer, are both leaving.
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  Do you think that's just kind of a precursor to the merger?
• 2:48
  I don't know that it has anything to do at all. No telling. Yeah, who knows?
• 2:53
  Yeah, I have a doctor at WakeMed who also left recently. I'm not sure if that
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  has anything to do with that either, but, you know, it's something.
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  It feels telling. I did see in that same article that a spokesperson for Wake
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  Med said that them leaving has nothing to do with the merger.
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  But I don't know if I'd trust that until I hear it from their mouths that they
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  say this has nothing to do with the merger.
• 3:17
  Well, I mean, herein lies the problem. Wake Med's public statements have been all over the map.
• 3:23
  You would think they're broke. The treasurer of the state of North Carolina,
• 3:26
  Brad Briner, had to go so far as to make a video saying, Wake Med is telling
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  us they don't have enough money to keep going without joining someone.
• 3:37
  Yes, they do, because he's the chair of the local government commission.
• 3:40
  He knows exactly how much they have. They have like a billion dollars in reserves at Wake Med.
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  So they made enough statements that the treasurer felt like he had to come out
• 3:50
  and reassure people WakeMed is fine.
• 3:53
  So it is confusing to people. WakeMed has made public statements indicating,
• 3:58
  that, you know, they're toast basically in this market with UNC and Duke if
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  they don't have a partner and get to expand.
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  But at the same time, they told DHHS in writing, hey, we have enough money without
• 4:10
  Atrium to build two new hospitals and to expand two locations up to the tune of $919 million.
• 4:20
  So that's a problem. Those statements are really completely inconsistent.
• 4:25
  Yeah. So North Carolina Health News has a story from earlier this week identifying
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  the 10 key questions about the deal.
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  And the first one is this question of basically can WakeMed survive without Atrium financially?
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  And it's a really detailed story. I recommend it for anyone.
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  But a closer look at their finances, WakeMed has nearly $1 billion in cash and
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  investments and appears capable of borrowing, which is, you've mentioned that from the treasurer.
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  In 2025, the system reported $2.6 billion in revenue, and they have an A-plus
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  rating from Fitch Ratings. So they have the ability to borrow and.
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  Yeah, and it's even more interesting than that.
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  Suzanne, we were talking about
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  it earlier. When what we're hearing is that Atrium would put $2 billion,
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  into WakeMed, that's not apparently according to the answers Governor Stein
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  got when Governor Stein asked for a whole list of questions to be answered by
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  WakeMed about the Atrium deal.
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  The $2 billion isn't an outright investment from Atrium into WakeMed.
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  It's our understanding that WakeMed money would be first, and then anything
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  left to get to the $2 billion Atrium would backfill.
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  So it's not like they're handing them $2 billion to buy equipment and make facilities better.
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  WakeMed would have to use its money first. So it's a little,
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  from what we're hearing, it's very deceptive to say $2 billion.
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  I mean, that's so convoluted for the general public to hear that because— We
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  can't see the contrast. Yeah.
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  There's another part of this NC Health News story I think is pretty interesting.
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  The question is, will prices rise if the deal goes through?
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  Wake, Med, and Atrium both say in public materials that their combination won't
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  drive up your health care costs.
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  But then it goes on to say that Donald Genseng, CEO, said, we don't go to Atrium rates.
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  But then he said, Lord, as the CEO, I wish we would because we're paid so much less.
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  I, you know, of course, like I said, we can't see this contract.
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  But the way I understood it, they were not making promises that costs would not go up.
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  And I think if it's anything like Wake Forest Baptist, the atrium took over
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  a couple of years ago, costs there apparently have gone up at least 30 percent,
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  in that Winston-Salem area since that takeover.
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  And we can't see the, like you said, the contracts with the state health plan
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  and Atrium either, but the plan has already said that Atrium charges 15 to 40
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  percent more than WakeMed for services.
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  Yeah. You would expect that to continue at WakeMed Atrium, right?
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  Yeah. I mean, if they want to come out and make a promise...
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  In writing that they won't increase costs, I think that would make the way people
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  look at it be a lot different than it is right now.
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  Yeah. So it's an ongoing story and there may be a vote next week. Maybe not.
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  And remember the reason you should care if you're listening for the first time
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  and you're a state employee or a retiree and you're thinking,
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  why are you talking about this? Because it's not about state employees and retirees.
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  According to the state health plan, And it is one of the biggest issues our
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  health plan is going to roll through this year.
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  Because if this deal goes through, the state health plan says it will increase
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  out-of-pocket costs around $130 a year.
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  Per person. Per person, no matter where you live in this state.
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  Yeah, not just with county. Yeah, anywhere in this state. Just because the deal went through.
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  And your costs would have to go up. Your premiums.
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  And I think that's important. But also, there are so many state employees in
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  the Raleigh area who directly interact with WakeMed.
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  I can tell you that state employees really like WakeMed.
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  People like WakeMed, and they don't want WakeMed to change. They do want them
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  to keep up with the times. But, I mean, according to what WakeMed tells Department
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  of Health and Human Services, they can keep up with the times just fine on their own. Yeah.
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  So another story we need to follow up on. You said you saw this follow up to
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  our what state employees make story from last week or who are the highest paid state employees.
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  The News and Observer also did a statement.
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  I think your question was, why aren't the coaches on this list,
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  basically, from the UNC system? Yeah.
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  And so maybe they were listening to our podcast and actually wrote about it,
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  but we can't say that for sure. But everyone listens to our podcast,
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  obviously. Of course they do. They should have quoted us.
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  But you had a little follow-up, right? They did a story on the UNC system employees. Yeah.
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  And so in the UNC system, it was almost all coaches that are the highest paid.
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  There was a department head and professor of cardio something surgery,
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  like, you know, one of the smartest people walking around.
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  Cardiothoracic surgery? That might have been it. Something. Heart surgeon.
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  Something we can't even spell. You know.
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  I mean, yeah. Surgery, yeah. Somebody who can repair your cardiovascular system
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  and teach other people how to do it. So, yeah, he, to me, put him at the top.
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  Is that really more impressive than teaching Amanda Mendes? Than being the assistant
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  athletic director. Not really, no.
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  So, kids, don't spend all that money on med school and learn how to save people.
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  Just buy basketball and play.
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  No, you don't even just play. You can be assistant athletic director.
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  So, you said the tops of the list was Mike Malone, the basketball coach,
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  the new basketball coach at UNC. I think he makes, I think it was $8.5 million,
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  but I don't know if all that's from the state.
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  I think some of that might be from other sources, but...
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  I got to say, if he wins the championship, it might be worth it. Right. To me, at least.
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  I know that Roy Williams was always pretty underpaid compared to other coaches in the nation.
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  And, you know, that's a topic for another time. But Carolina having an extensive
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  coaching tree that we're willing to maybe coach for less actually helped the program a lot.
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  But anyway, they're still making enough money, I'm sure.
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  Yeah. How much money do you need? I mean, I know that there was a June 10th
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  headline, UNC Chapel Hill falling further behind peer schools in faculty salary pay.
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  So, yeah, still a little bothered by that. And, you know, I feel like.
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  It's important to get to the final four, Artis.
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  And then they say sports bring in revenue. They bring in revenue we put right back into sports.
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  Yeah. Yeah. But OK.
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  It is kind of strange that in this country we run pretty much professional athletics
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  program out of universities.
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  You know what I mean? Yes, at this point it is. It's so strange if you think about it.
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  It started out as an intramural activity for...
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  Students to just keep in shape. And now it's like, it's actually like pro leagues, you know?
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  It's taken a lot of the fun out of it, to be honest. It really has. Yeah.
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  I'm definitely not as obsessed with it as I used to be. Are you sure?
• 11:35
  Well, you asked me again in November. I thought I saw something recently that
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  was talking about I might be completely wrong or not know the full details on it.
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  I saw something about NFL players being able to go into the transfer system,
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  the transfer portal. And I'm like, what?
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  Yeah, there's this weird thing going on now where if, like, you didn't make
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  it as an NFL, or NBA is a big one because they have, like, the G League.
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  So, like, if you are in the G League, you can go back to college,
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  and there's just a big fight going on on whether that's good or not.
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  No, if you've made it pro, you don't get to go back to college and play.
• 12:10
  Well, I mean, but college players are essentially pros now because they get
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  paid so much. They actually get paid now, you know?
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  So it's a, you're right. It has.
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  But we're spending less on faculty. Yeah.
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  I mean, it's great when you can say we're number one.
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  But it's also great when your law degree means the same thing it did before
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  in terms of the sanctity of the education. And that's the mission of the university,
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  right? You got to balance all of it. It's a hard job. Yeah.
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  So the legislature came back this week or today, right? Yeah. Didn't do anything.
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  Today is Wednesday, September 2nd. Yeah. When we're taping. In and out.
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  So, and they're also coming back later this month. But you don't see anything
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  happening in any of these meetings for the rest of the year?
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  I don't think so until after. The election. Yeah.
• 13:02
  Yeah. Which is starting to heat up, by the way.
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  Like, we got three more months of this. It is getting crazy,
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  too. Yeah, I got my first mailer last week from a Watley's campaign,
• 13:12
  Michael Watley's campaign against.
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  And it was, you know, Ant Cooper. It wasn't a positive one about Watley.
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  So, oh, and I'm an unaffiliated voter. So I get so much mail.
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  And I get so many phone calls, you know, until I vote.
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  And then they can kind of tell that you voted, I guess. There's a way.
• 13:33
  So we got that to look forward to and Impact Met. We got that to look forward to.
• 13:39
  At Impact Met on Saturday, we don't have anything to report on.
• 13:43
  Impact is our political action committee at Scenic. You just keep correcting me.
• 13:47
  I know. I know because you're not saying what you're talking about.
• 13:50
  I mean, we're on episode like 118 now. People know this. Yeah,
• 13:54
  but not everyone has been listening since episode one.
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  Scenic. We live in Scenic world. It's very clear. We are deep in the scenic
• 14:02
  world right now with the convention. We forget everybody doesn't know.
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  So just trying to help out. Yeah.
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  So they did meet end of August, but, you know, we're waiting for a convention
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  for, you know, our chair to be able to talk to our delegates and let everyone know.
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  Not that it's a big secret, but. Yeah. Samantha, you got anything for Gen Z
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  moment or anything you want to talk about before we move to the question of the week?
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  There was four baby goats at a mobile petting zoo that has gone across North
• 14:32
  Carolina that have tested positive for rabies.
• 14:37
  Wow. Rabid goats. That does not. Baby goats. Little cuddly looking baby goats.
• 14:41
  They did identify how they came in contact with rabies. Let me guess. Was it a fox?
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  No. A skunk snuck into their pen.
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  And the babies were at that point still too young to have gotten their rabies
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  vaccine. So they had not had that yet. And then unfortunately had to be euthanized
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  because they had tested positive.
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  So do people get to pet these baby goats? Yes, there were people feeding these
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  baby goats by hand, and you can come in contact with rabies through saliva.
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  So there are several people who were at these events, of course,
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  and the families of those who were in contact are being contacted and being
• 15:23
  informed that they should get rabies shots.
• 15:26
  There is at least a four-year-old little boy who has had to receive three rabies
• 15:31
  vaccines so far and will ultimately need six shots.
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  Because he was feeding the baby goats. You know, and they bite you whenever
• 15:38
  you're feeding them too.
• 15:39
  They don't mean to, but they're biting your finger. They're babies.
• 15:42
  But it seems like there'd be some kind of regulation that the goats would have
• 15:47
  to have these sides before they could come in contact. Yeah.
• 15:52
  Which I guess at that point, they wouldn't be the cute baby goats.
• 15:54
  Turns out, petting zoos, not regulated. Yeah, not regulated. Who knew?
• 15:58
  So I was reading, I have no idea if this is true, I was reading that humans
• 16:01
  could get a rabies vaccine the same as animals do.
• 16:04
  Oh, well, kind of makes you wonder.
• 16:07
  There's very little chance of that being added to the schedule.
• 16:10
  We can't even get measles now, right? Speaking of measles. Yeah,
• 16:14
  we also have measles in North Carolina, too, right? Yeah.
• 16:17
  Where was that at? That was in Buncombe County.
• 16:21
  That was at a hotel and gas stations in Buncombe County. Yes. Area. Yes. But yeah.
• 16:28
  It's a little frightening. Yeah. And I don't know if you're an artist in my age.
• 16:34
  I don't know if you know for sure about your vaccine, but there was a segment
• 16:37
  of folks our age who didn't actually get the live vaccine when we were vaccinated.
• 16:43
  So my doctor had actually told
• 16:45
  me, you know, if I were you, I'd get vaccinated again, just to be sure.
• 16:49
  Because there's no way to tell which one you got. I almost feel like when I
• 16:53
  was at Carolina, they made us all get.
• 16:55
  Yeah, the MMR. Yeah, go down for some reason because all of us were given something
• 17:00
  as kids that wasn't right. That's probably true. Made us all go down to the
• 17:03
  gym. Maybe I did. I just don't remember.
• 17:05
  Who knows what that was looking back? The great state employees who are on the
• 17:09
  front lines of all this, right?
• 17:11
  DHHS, we need to get them in here. We're so fascinated by health topics.
• 17:14
  We really need to get some actual health professionals who are trying to keep
• 17:19
  us all safe from this kind of stuff.
• 17:22
  Would that also be the Department of Agriculture with the pettings?
• 17:25
  Yes, they would. There's some cross work there. And certainly they're the ones
• 17:30
  that determine at the end of the day, were the baby goats rabid? Yeah.
• 17:35
  And figure out what other animals, not just those goats that traveled around,
• 17:39
  but what other animals back at their home base might have been around the baby
• 17:42
  goats. I mean, they do extensive work. It's really good.
• 17:46
  Valuable state employees, I'm telling you. Yep. I think this is also a good
• 17:50
  time to put in a plug for possums because they don't get rabies.
• 17:55
  Possums are kind of amazing Yeah I do also want to follow up on our huge topic
• 18:01
  From last week about Dolly Dolly Parton who passed away At 80 I did see a video
• 18:07
  this week That I just wanted to bring up to y'all And,
• 18:10
  it kind of has a scenic angle In that it was the history of Dollywood And it was like so interesting,
• 18:18
  And I watched it And we do sell tickets to Dollywood By the way at scenic But
• 18:23
  it started as like a weird little railroad theme park,
• 18:28
  that she used to go to with her nieces and whatever.
• 18:31
  And then she just partnered with them and took it over, and now it's huge.
• 18:36
  But it was a much longer story than just that. But I thought it was pretty interesting.
• 18:40
  There's been a lot of stories and videos about things like that.
• 18:44
  Has anything stuck out to you?
• 18:45
  Yeah, I watched a documentary last night. There's, you know,
• 18:48
  there's lots of documentaries, but the name of this one was Here I Am.
• 18:52
  And it was so good. And there was history in there that I didn't know about
• 18:56
  Dolly, even later in her career.
• 18:58
  You know, she went to Europe on tour, and it ended up being performances in
• 19:03
  these little tiny venues. Nothing like we think of when we think of Dolly Parton.
• 19:07
  I think I saw that, and there was a video of her in, like, Ireland doing a— Yeah.
• 19:11
  Yeah. And she was like, um, yeah, this isn't what I want to be doing.
• 19:16
  But here I am. It was good. Did you see that someone defiled the Dolly star,
• 19:22
  on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?
• 19:23
  Scratched her name out and, like, stole all the flowers. Like, destroyed it.
• 19:27
  What is wrong? With people. And then they are, they've quickly fixed it,
• 19:32
  apparently. Yeah. That's just not nice.
• 19:35
  People are just weird. People are just weird sometimes. Yeah,
• 19:38
  I saw, when I first saw that article, I saw a quote with it that was saying,
• 19:43
  I didn't know there was anyone who didn't like Dolly. Yeah.
• 19:46
  Well. Anything stick out to you this week, artists watching clips and things?
• 19:51
  Yeah, I saw an interview with Merle Haggard. I saw that, too.
• 19:55
  Yeah, I had never seen that before.
• 19:57
  He was in Love Weather. and all this stuff and like they both knew they couldn't
• 20:00
  be together and this whole thing.
• 20:02
  And you know for those of y'all who were Merle Haggard fans or know about Merle Haggard you know.
• 20:08
  He was not a guy that fell into puppy love type. You know, he just wasn't somebody
• 20:13
  to pine for somebody. He was a rough, you know, guy.
• 20:17
  But he was apparently in love with Dolly and, you know, wrote two songs about
• 20:22
  it. Yeah. And they're kind of pitiful. Yeah.
• 20:25
  One of them was a big song, right? Like, Always Wanting You.
• 20:28
  Always Wanting You. Yeah. Never Having You. Wow.
• 20:32
  It's interesting. Yeah. It was really.
• 20:35
  And I just thought that was wild, mainly just because it was so not Merle to
• 20:39
  hear him in that interview. I was like, oh, my goodness, the other side of him.
• 20:42
  My dad is a huge Merle Haggard fan, and he played it on the guitar all the time growing up.
• 20:48
  And so I've grown up a big Merle Haggard fan, too.
• 20:51
  It was interesting to see him in that state. Yeah, he's been he was married
• 20:55
  for most of his career, too. Yeah, I know. But he's he was the bad boy.
• 20:59
  Right. So, like, you know, I did
• 21:01
  20 years in prison, facing life without parole. She tried to do me right.
• 21:06
  Mama tried. That was one of my cousins. They danced with their mom to that song.
• 21:12
  Mama tried. You've got redneck cousins. That's awesome. I do.
• 21:16
  I used to have Mama tried on a shirt I used to with the two little. Yeah.
• 21:20
  Anyway, but Merle Haggard was, like, such a bad boy. And Dolly was known for
• 21:25
  being very wholesome and very spiritual.
• 21:29
  And so that was a very odd crush, I thought, for them to have.
• 21:33
  And they're both known for, you know, being great songwriters.
• 21:36
  Oh, yeah. And he said in the interview that was like the big draw to him for
• 21:40
  her, you know, that they had that in common. So, yeah, I thought that was a cool video, too.
• 21:45
  So let's go to the question of the week, and we'll wrap it up.
• 21:56
  Okay, this is going to be a weird one. All right, stick with me here.
• 22:00
  But what is something, a topic or a science or something that you are kind of
• 22:07
  obsessed with for no reason?
• 22:09
  Do we look like we're obsessed with science? No, there's a topic that everybody has.
• 22:14
  And I'll tell you mine to begin with, okay? Okay. Mine is like the relationship
• 22:20
  between dogs and humans.
• 22:22
  Oh. I've been, like, obsessed with that for, like, five years now,
• 22:26
  and I watch all these videos about, like, why dogs and humans interact so much.
• 22:31
  And, like, we're the only organism or only animals on the planet who have a
• 22:36
  pet, and it's a dog, you know?
• 22:38
  And there's just, like, they found people buried with dogs from 16,000 years ago.
• 22:46
  Like, they've been, we've been connected with dogs for 40,000 years.
• 22:52
  And it's all because humans were messy when they, you know, way back in the day.
• 22:59
  And dogs were, like, smart enough to realize that humans would not hurt them.
• 23:05
  And they could be around us and, like, eat off our scraps.
• 23:10
  And then eventually they started interacting more and more. And now we have
• 23:15
  two dogs that we're obsessed with. So that's part of it. And I've always loved
• 23:18
  dogs. But I just love the whole thing.
• 23:21
  Like, I think if I went back to college, if I was 18 again, I would study that.
• 23:26
  I thought you were bird obsessed. Well, I do love birds, too.
• 23:30
  It's interesting about dogs, though, because I can remember being a kid,
• 23:33
  and we had outside dogs. Yeah. They didn't come in the house.
• 23:37
  We had outside dogs. And as we, I mean, here we are to this day where we're
• 23:42
  putting clothes on dogs.
• 23:44
  Yeah, and dogs, I just love dogs. And dogs will protect your children.
• 23:49
  That's a big one. Like, just how, like, they instinctually know to protect your
• 23:55
  children when you're, like, if we went out on a walk and there was another dog,
• 23:59
  our dog would, like, jump in front of Clara. And, like, you know,
• 24:02
  it's just, it's. They know.
• 24:04
  It almost makes you tear up. I mean, I had a dog growing up who was protective
• 24:07
  of me and my brother, but she protected from a distance. Really?
• 24:10
  She was a chow mix. They're very standoffish to those they don't know.
• 24:15
  And she would stay at a distance, but if she saw what deemed to be a threat,
• 24:20
  she would get close to us.
• 24:22
  She was like, if it's a threat, I'm going to be right there.
• 24:24
  But I'm just going to watch from over here until it becomes a threat.
• 24:28
  It's just so amazing to me that, like, we have a dog that, like,
• 24:32
  sleeps in our bed, you know? It's an animal.
• 24:35
  It could kill us, you know, in the middle of the night, but it doesn't.
• 24:39
  A golden doodle's going to kill you in the middle of the night.
• 24:42
  Yeah, we didn't have our first dog that we let into the house until I was nine.
• 24:46
  I got a Boston Terrier and I was like, this is an indoor dog.
• 24:49
  It's not going outside. It's mine.
• 24:51
  And then, you know, you juxtapose that with cats who are totally the opposite,
• 24:56
  but at the same time, the same. I don't think cats are really pets.
• 25:00
  I think we're their pets. They're just living with you. They're just there until
• 25:04
  something better comes along.
• 25:08
  Okay, so that's my upset, weird obsession. Do y'all have any kind of weird obsession?
• 25:12
  I do. Suzanne, I think you said,
• 25:14
  you had an idea. It's kind of a new recent obsession, but cow's hooves.
• 25:19
  Stay with me. Oh, yeah. Stay with me a minute. So I passed video.
• 25:25
  I don't remember TikTok, whatever it was. But this guy from Scotland cares for cow's feet.
• 25:31
  Yeah. And so I have just gotten obsessed with the whole process of taking care,
• 25:37
  of cow. But it's important work. I mean, you know, he travels around the farms
• 25:41
  and takes the highland cows and some of them artists.
• 25:45
  Highland coos. I think I watched that where sometimes they have to cut out part
• 25:49
  of the hook. Yeah. But he's cute. I think that's.
• 25:54
  See, you had to tell on me, didn't you? I was going to say, not all farriers
• 25:58
  are that cute. Are that what they're called?
• 26:00
  Farriers. Oh, is he also handsome? Yeah. Oh, I'll see that. We had one for our horses.
• 26:05
  And the Scottish accent. We still do. He's really expressive,
• 26:08
  and then he trims hooves. Oh.
• 26:11
  But it is fascinating to me. I
• 26:12
  mean, who knew? Some of the most bad to the bone of all the black people.
• 26:15
  Oh, yeah, because they're over there. They're picking up a 2,000-pound animal's
• 26:19
  foot and saying, okay, don't kick me with this.
• 26:22
  Well, they have this big machine or this big contraption called the crush,
• 26:26
  you know, and they lead the cow into the crush.
• 26:28
  There was one video of a bull, and this bull was huge, and he was also mad,
• 26:33
  apparently, at the world.
• 26:34
  So getting him into the crush, and then it has a contraption that pulls each
• 26:38
  one of their legs up so they can get to it. Anyway, you know.
• 26:41
  Very different from horses. With horses, you just put them on a rope and say,
• 26:45
  hopefully you don't do anything stupid.
• 26:47
  There's a horse guy on TikTok too. I've seen him. I've seen him,
• 26:50
  definitely. Is he also handsome? Extremely.
• 26:54
  I don't know what's happening. No idea. Artis, I was thinking yours would be
• 26:58
  Scotland, but if you have others, you can. Yeah.
• 27:02
  Or puffins. I do read a lot of Scotland stuff, a lot of puffins.
• 27:06
  A lot of pup and obsession on my part.
• 27:08
  Recently, though, my obsession...
• 27:11
  Is people showing how they enrich the nutrients in their soil for their grass.
• 27:18
  Because living in North Carolina, the fall is the prime time for seeding.
• 27:23
  It's the only time we get that good root growth.
• 27:26
  The spring seeding is kind of eh.
• 27:29
  Questionable whether it's even useful, but we all do it. But growing grass in
• 27:33
  North Carolina in this part of North Carolina is a perpetual headache. Yeah. Yeah.
• 27:38
  Yeah. And I'm always interested in what people do. So that's kind of my recent.
• 27:44
  And there's a little girl that,
• 27:46
  have you seen this where she takes almost dead plants and repots them?
• 27:50
  I love that little girl. She's really cute. Bies them on clearance.
• 27:53
  She's like six or something. But by the way, another place where state employees
• 27:57
  can help because you can send your soil sample.
• 28:00
  To the extension offices? Uh-huh. Okay, yeah. They do so much.
• 28:05
  They do. I used to work in a newspaper, and we would have at least four or five
• 28:08
  stories a year about what they do. So it's a good resource for people.
• 28:13
  What's yours, Samantha? Does it have to be a science obsession? No, it can be anything.
• 28:19
  I was always an English and history person. And right now, my current obsession
• 28:22
  is very much just reading in general.
• 28:26
  I've read, I think, 26 books in the past three months. Oh, my gosh.
• 28:31
  Really? Yeah, I pretty much start one right after the other.
• 28:34
  And I think hockey romances and, like, sports romances has been my obsession as of late.
• 28:42
  There's something about an athletic man who yearns. What is wrong with us?
• 28:48
  He yearns. He yearns. A yearning man. Burl Haggard. He was yearning. He was not athletic.
• 28:56
  Unless consumption was a sport. This was a question, John. But he was a yearning
• 28:59
  man. He was a yearning man.
• 29:02
  And you're also, we were talking about the Kindle yesterday. Oh, yeah.
• 29:06
  I like to read as well. And I'm usually reading two books at one time.
• 29:09
  One of the Kindle and then an actual physical book. Yeah.
• 29:14
  Well, that's cool. Look, that's a topic that gets people talking.
• 29:17
  So try that with your friends and family at home. If you're still listening
• 29:21
  and God bless you if you still are.
• 29:23
  All right. Well, we'll see you in Greensboro.