Real Conversations with Chase & Ben: Don't look now

0:00Welcome in to this edition of Real Conversations Chase Park Ben critic here with you on this. What I hope is a beautiful Sunday morning. We don't know that because it's a Friday around 10 o'clock in the morning. As we're recording this, always like to tell you guys that in case, you know, something catches on fire or whatnot. We were not aware of that when we were recording there prior to Sunday, but pretty good weather. I mean, Friday, it's up in the 70s. It's sunny outside. It's like shorts, weather, critic over there is still going to be in a hoodie, but it's it's fantastic weather. Here throughout most of Mississippi is we're here with you. Hope all your February has gone well. The next time we talk to you or even now, it's not going to be February anymore. We're in the March already two months of 2026 gone. It is flying by as we talked about a good bit last week as as well. Hey, your your chalping on something over there. What are you doing? I'm got in the habit of eating these cinnamon puffs. It's it's just a cheap, you know, there's peppermints that kind of melt in your mouth.

1:02Yeah, the soft peppermints. Soft peppermints. These are soft cinnamon peppermints. And hot. Now they're they're they're very like it's a sweet taste. And I literally chase I order 20 cases, not 20 cases. 20 bags on Amazon, because I can't stop eating them. I'm trying to stop dipping so much in the car. So I'll literally eat a bag of mint today. That's what I was going to ask you. Are you a gum mint person most of the time? Or is it only when you're trying to avoid the worst habit? When I'm trying to avoid the worst habit. Okay. I'm a I'm a mint guy. I'm not a big a gum guy. And just because Hillary tells me that chewing gum is just it's not as bad for your teeth, but it's I just get bored chewing gum. I know it sounds just because you're like I was gone bad for your teeth. Not not necessarily, but it can be a scale of sugar in it. Okay. Just like again, like I'm eating sugar, man. So I mean,

2:06take it for what it's worth. I just Hillary, I have spent so much money on my teeth because Hillary did my you know, with my the nears and all that stuff. I just I try to take care of him and I'm trying to slow down dipping. That's my my last name, my last vice, but I just I get in a core man. If I'm driving to Grenada, Oxford, McComb, it's hard not to like Hillary says I have a habit of spitting. Like it's not the dips per se. It's the it's that action of spitting in a can or a cup, which is disgusting, but it brings me great joy to chase. Literally brings me great joy. It brings me great joy. Yeah. So look, but it's funny because the lady at the bank in McComb, she gave me like I'm a very you know, very simple when it comes to presents. Like, get me something sweet, candy, chocolate or whatever. Don't buy me bourbon because I don't drink. Don't get me closed because I like to pick my own stuff out, but they literally gave me for Christmas last year these these cinnamon puffs and is a joke. And I and I was like this is

3:07the I was so excited. And then this year they gave me a case of it. And then I ordered just order another case and Amazon. But anyway, yeah, man, you know, we're do we do our best with our with our demons. We try to keep our demons down. You know, um, I haven't chewed gum since probably playing baseball in like high school or something for the most part. I mean, I'll put a stick in here there, but I don't buy it. I don't I don't keep it. I my vice on that type of thing or those little bitty, I guess that they spear meant life saver things, little round circle, mints. Those are my that that's my vice. If you told me I had to have hard candy around where I'm constantly popping one in. Okay, so I love those, but an orange. Oh, okay. The orange flavor. Thanks, Jay. I'll eat the crap out of those two. Okay. Yeah, uh, yeah, I love them. Um, where I where I get my haircut, they literally for Christmas, they give me mints, the orange flavored mints for Christmas. And I mean, so, um, yeah, I'm a man guy. I'm a big man guy. I, uh, you and I had a pretty lengthy

4:12conversation, but we had to record button today. I didn't tell you about some, uh, some fear I had though this morning. So I, you know, Friday is my, my lighter day because we don't have a blue sky live on Friday morning. And by the way, you can find all the rest of the, the five for the week already in the channel. There in P to B digital five finishing up with the handrails guys that is the Friday blue sky live with you. But anyway, so I was kind of taking it easy. Uh, had a dinner last night, got in a little later. It was a little, not tired, but just sort of from the week. I was, I was, I was working, uh, from a more reclined position. I wasn't sitting at my desk. I wouldn't walk through the house. I just had my laptop and was doing some light work while I was kind of laying around. And, uh, I got up, went into the kitchen for something before we were going to start our show. I think I was going to get some water or something. And I noticed that the garage door was open. Uh, and then I noticed that the garage was open, which it typically is

5:14during the day, most of the time. And neither dog was anywhere to be seen in the house. And it's not like losing a kid or not knowing where your kid is because we all have had those, hopefully no more than two, three, five, 10 minutes of not knowing where your child is. And there's not a worse feeling and a worse dread in the world of trying to figure that out. I know you've, you've had that experience. I had the, what, what in the moment was the really bad one at the beach back in the, in the fall that, that we talked about. It's not that. But if it crows to your mind that you left the door open and potentially lost your child's animal, it's like the next level down to where you're like, oh my god, I've got to find, I need to find both of these dogs. But I definitely have got to find one of these dogs right now. Got to find it easy. Yes. And I was outside and I was on the phone. So I couldn't yell right then. And I was like halfway listening to, to who I was talking to. And I'm just like scouring the neighborhood, go back in, can't find them,

6:15still walking around. I'm like, am I going to start calling neighbors? Am I getting the car? What am I going to do? And I spent, yeah, about 10 minutes kind of going around trying to figure it out. And then when I went out the next time, both the knuckleheads were just running back down the road back towards the driveway and, and headed back in the house like they just took a little leisurely stroll. But there was, there was a little panic because it was, you know, I gripe at everybody else. When a dog gets out, I'm sort of the one to just yell at everyone when that happens because hey, let's, you know, it's, it's my version of our parents all when we were younger went, hey, you're letting the cold air out or like close the door or we, you know, where you're born at a barn, all that kind of stuff. Mine is allowing the dogs to get out. And I thought, this is on me. At some point I went out in the garage this morning, didn't close the door. And now they're off and God knows where around the, around the neighborhood. Now it's crazy like that we, the older we get, we, we see our parents in us the way they used to act. You know what I mean? Or, or, or look,

7:18like, you know, the older I've gotten people, I'll run into people that are, I hadn't seen in years and they're like, man, you, you look so much like you're dead. And I'm like, really? Because my whole life, I was totally just like my mom, you know, on their side. And, and it is wild, because I think, I look at my brother myself and I, and you know, we, we, everybody stands, you know, you have, you're, your posture, the way you hold yourself or whatever. And, um, but I've caught myself in the last couple of years, the things that I'm saying to my kids are, I mean, Hillary said it in the middle of the night. She's like, you know, Cory first night going to listen to what you're telling her. She's 16. She knows everything. And I'm like, well, listen to my parents when I was 16. And she was like, really? And you know, we started talking about, I'm like, no, I didn't, like, I didn't tell my parents anything ever. And I'm, but I'm mad at my kid for not telling, and she's not telling me everything. You know, it makes no sense. Uh, but it is kind of amazing, like, the older I get,

8:23the faster time goes. And it's, it's kind of freaky. You know, like it's, that clock, that hand, that clock, just, just, it's amazing how fast it goes. I think about it more probably every year. And I do that thing that is not productive of where am I on the clock of my life? Like, how far am I'm through it? Like, hey, if I live to be exactly this age, and I'm, and I'm saying I'm 50% done, I'm going to live to 84. It's like, well, that's not too bad. That's like that. I mean, that might, you know, you might take that. I mean, you want to mean like, that's, that's not, yeah, that's not, that's all right. You know, some of the things I've done. Yeah. Okay. For sure. Let's, let's sign up for that. Um, yeah. It's only natural. I mean, you know, it, what, what, here's what's weird about it. And I think I'm right. I guess well, we could ask people that are, that are beyond us an age or parents or whatnot is

9:25when we're really young, we think we've got forever. I mean, there is no end. I mean, you're, you're rolling and rolling and I think it's probably starting with around my age where you're very aware of it. It's once you have kids and you start doing that clock of, okay, this is how old I'm going to be when Carlyanne's 18 and when she's 21 and when she's 25 or however that would work, you start doing that math in your head. And I think you hopefully have a healthy, but some level of fear of the end of your life or making the most of your life or trying to get into help to extend your life or whatever you want to call that. And then it seems like you get to sort of an age where maybe acceptance is not the right word, but you simply just enjoy the hell of the time day to day and year to year. I think the panic and the worry, it's like a bell curve. I think it goes up as you get older into like your 40s and 50s and then it actually goes back down as you get older and you're just trying to, to make the most and cherish and slow down. I think it's

10:28why we, you know, we hopefully, but in general, we get smarter as we age and even right now, we're, we're kind of stupid because we're, we're, we're, we're, we're wishing the days away and wishing the years away and you're doing all these things you hadn't got to the point where you just kind of stop looking to clock and go, I just, I got today, let's do today. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, like literally last night, Hillary, we were walking into it. We had Cored and Emmie and we were trying to go somewhere to eat. We went to one restaurant. They were the 30 minute wait. I'm like, go to another restaurant. It's a 20 minute wait. I'm like, you know, I just want to get to something to eat. Well, we go to the Apples and there's, there's a little, little kiss. She's probably one and you know, she's running around her parents trying to catch her and Hillary looks at me and goes, I can't wait to be grandparents. Like, I can't wait to we, we have those and I'm like, I mean, but she, she's right because Libby, she literally turns 21 next Wednesday.

11:28I got an 18 year old Emmie, you know, and then core 16 and you're going, they're, they're, they're getting older very fast and they're, you know, they're, they're about to hit that, you know, being adults and that's what the adults do. They get married. They have kids. I mean, it's, it's a cycle and, I mean, I looked at her though and I was like, bruh. I mean, really? She's like, yeah, like, that's going to be so much fun. And I'm like, and I guess it hit me like, there's all these different stages of your life, but you're right. Like I, I've tried to slow down and joy, enjoy my days instead of looking at a clock going on. I got to go to this appointment. I got this meeting. I got the, you know, just to to to to every single day. When you do get those days to kind of chill out and, you know, thank God for what he's giving you and good health. It's, but, you know, I stay a worry all the time. So, you know, it's, you, your, your kids are one of the

12:29ways that I sort of passed time and get freaked out because it's all three to an extent. But for whatever reason, it's mainly Kora because I can remember like wishing her like a fourth happy birthday on the podcast back in the day or fifth. I'm like, hey, congratulations to Kora. She's going to kindergarten today. And now as I'm watching her get older, I'm going, my God, you're an old ass like Jesus. Like you just keep like, you know, I mean, it's the literal, I'll remember when you were in diapers. Well, because I do like, you know, it's like, my God. I mean, it's crazy, man. It's crazy. I mean, Carl, like I said, Carl, he ends in nine. She's going to be 10 next month. Be 10 next month. I mean, I mean, enjoy it. I mean, because I'm not getting back on a horse conversation this week. We talked about a little bit last week. But again, just the, the noticing of the passage of a kid growing and getting older and whatnot. And we all have these markers. And I think that's one of my markers.

13:31As I go out there and I watch her ride and she's, she's riding bearback on a full grown horse. And you're going. That's hard. That's hard. You know, I was like, you've got to be, she's, your, your, your, your child's growing. I mean, you don't just do that at five. I mean, you, you're, you're on over there a little bit like, wow. That's hard. Yeah. That's, she looks good on the horse though, man. The video you sent me. She's, uh, you get down. She's comfortable. Yeah. Which she's witness. Yeah. Which is hard, man. Like they either, they either, they either have it or they don't like, I, I can't get on a horse. It scares me. But you know, this kid's can jump on there and just start going. Kids aren't scared as we are. True, true. Yeah. I mean, it's true. Now you're right. I like exuberance of just getting on the roller coaster, just getting on the slide, just getting on the horse. Yeah. It's like, you don't think about what can happen. Like if I fall off this horse or if I go play softball in Oxford and blow your knee, like you don't, you know, you're not thinking any of that. You're just like, I'm going to enjoy the day. You know, I'm going to jump on this horse without a

14:35saddle. So big deal. There's the, there's this, uh, it is the world. You've got Tron, the, the motorcycle roller coaster. And yeah, we'll be like halfway through it. And I look up and Carly and she's got like both her hands off the handlebars and it's like rolling around. And she's like, it, it never even for one half second goes through her mind that anything could happen. Ever. We're just, yeah. We're just on the thing. And the whole time I'm going, hey, that strap's good right there, right? That chain's good right there. We good. All right. Cool. Sweet. You know, do you mention that ride? That ride, you know, it locks you in that like you're on the, you know, the bike, whatever. You go forward. And that thing comes behind you and pushes you in. I get freaked me out last time we wrote it because, because, you know, I'm kind of thick. So I was, I was trying to get it my chair and that thing came back and, and like I was, I couldn't breathe because, you know, because your chest is all the way up and I started kind of panicking and Hillary's like, dude, she's like, just take your breath. Like, just chill out. Like, I'm like, I can't breathe.

15:35It's too tight. And then, and so anyway, they unlocked everything, had to go back to it again. Then it was loose. I'm like, well, I'm going to fall out and down on the tron ride, you know. Um, so anyway, yeah, you're right. It's like we just, we're scared something will happen to us. But hey, I got good news, man. Well, I can kind of tell you a little bit about it. Um, we, you know, we interviewed two, two ladies the last two weeks at the farm. And I'm hoping by this weekend, I'll be able to tell you, I think we, we, you made a decision. Both, yeah, I think they both won it, which is unbelievable. Um, you know, one of the ladies in her daughter, rising over and she's a number one writer in the country. Um, her mom told her there's the lady who we're trying to hire. I'm the legal like she's done everything. One wanted to do your honor's final. You know, she's, and then the other one is a badass from she trained under.

16:37You remember Mitch Scrametta to play football, don't miss it. So Mitch married Lindsey. Um, oh my gosh, her last name just went right out of my head. Um, Lindsay, whatever her dad, Lindsay's dad won silver, the silver medal in the Olympics. He was dear. Was it Munich? They're really. Yeah, Munich. And so, uh, yeah, Munich. Yeah. And um, I think he won another medal too. Maybe bronze on the next one. But, you know, he's Olympic writer. He's, he's, he's older. He thinks he's like 79 or 80, but she trained under him. This lady did another, another, another lady and, uh, learned under him and some other people as she's just, she's a badass too. And, um, so anyway, but we're, we're gonna pray about it, talk about it more this weekend, but I think we have a decision. I don't think we go wrong with either one of them, but it's kind of cool though, Chase, because, you know, when our lives train are left for another job, you know, we asked around, hey, you know, can someone give us an idea,

17:40you know, if you have any suggestions, anybody by blah, and no one, like, no one would give us anything. Like, oh, no, you know, and, uh, so Hillary, literally, it's a long story, but she literally just picked up the phone and text this lady, like, you know, and the one, uh, her daughter has it all over it. And, uh, they just started having conversations and then it just one thing led to another, we got her down. And yeah, so Hillary's the one recruiting the two ladies, which has been kind of awesome. Um, so anyway, so hopefully we'll have some good news by, by Monday, man, and, um, is that lowering your stress, just simply having that done? Yeah, you know, yes, because I told Hillary the other night, we were talking in the embed and watch the TV, and, and I asked her, I was like, are you good? She's like, yeah, I'm just over a while. Like, for whatever reason, just, there's a lot going on and I can't get anything done. And she's like, what about you? I was like, yeah, I'm, I usually don't get that overwhelmed,

18:40but I go for whatever reason. Like, I'm, I'm, I feel like the way the, the, the world is on my shoulders. Um, because, you know, you're trying to make all these decisions with this business and that business and this pick, you know, whatever. And, you know, a lot of places I go to, which is, it's the job I get everything I get dumped on. You know, people are like, hey, I need talk to you, you know, they're just dumping everything on you. And, uh, which, which, it's part of the job. And, uh, but I think for me, like, this show, and then seeing my, my lady on Wednesdays, it gives me an outlet to just talk through those things to keep my mind sharp. But at times, that's not good enough. You know, like, it's just, your shoulders are going to be heavy. Um, so anyway, it's been a lot, man. It's been a lot. And you know, and when you don't have an outlet, and, and what I mean by that too is like, I don't drink anymore. So, and you know, you have a drink, man. It kind of makes everything just like,

19:44like, you can kind of unwind, so to speak. Um, in the moment, in the moment, correct. And, and yeah, yeah. Well, she had to allow us one or two or three though night. And, uh, and she was, and that's what kind of brought this whole thing up. And, um, and I was like, you know, I, I have my outlets of how to relieve stress, you know, if it's, I have my things I do, whatever, but it is one of those things where you have to find other, other avenues. Because if not, I think that's how people have lower attacks and, and pass the wine or strokes because they keep, they're so, they keep everything so bottled up and, and just stressed out all the time. You know, it goes into your shoulders, your neck. Um, you got to stay, figure out ways to stay healthy and take care of your body. But, um, but yeah, man, it's been a lot to answer your question. It's been a lot, but I'm blessed to have Hillary because, you know, she's my partner in that,

20:45you know, with our business and, uh, and she kicks ass and, and, and, and, and, and she does all of our books and stuff like that, which is a lie. Um, you know what I'm saying? So anyway, yeah, man, so, yeah, but, um, but I found out so, so, so much joy out of this part, like when you work your ass off to try to hire somebody or try to get this person or that, whatever the end result is such a, a high for me. You know, um, it's very satisfying. Regardless what happens. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. It's a new year, but 2026 doesn't require a new you, maybe just a less burdened you. New expectations, new deadlines, sometimes new anything can feel like an extra load in your daily life. Therapy can help more easily identify what weighs you down or hold you back by offering an unbiased perspective to better understand your relationships, motivations,

21:49and emotions. I know I've been burdened before by a fear of failure. I need to be perfect at work or in my personal life. Therapy helped me let that go and move forward, letting me focus on the things that truly mattered in my relationships, my career and more. BetterHelp therapist work according to a strict code of conduct and are fully licensed in the US. BetterHelp does the initial matching work for you so you can focus on your therapy goals. A short questionnaire helps identify your needs and preferences and their 12 plus years of experience and industry-leading match fulfillment rate means they typically get it right the first time. But if you aren't happy with your match, switch to a different therapist at any time from their tailored wrecks. With more than 30,000 therapists, BetterHelp is one of the world's largest online therapy platforms, having served more than 5 million people globally. And it works with an average rating of 4.9 out of 5 for a live session based on more than 1.7 million client reviews. BetterHelp makes it easy to get

22:52matched online with a qualified therapist, so sign up and get 10% off at betterhelp.com slash mpw. There's something really good too of acknowledging that and identifying the positive and the good thing that happened and that it feels good. I mean, it's been a little bit of a show as we worked on the past, but I feel like it's important to acknowledge it when it happens and point out when it's what seems to be a healthy way to do it because in this rat race, we're so quick to focus on the negative and let it linger and linger and linger and when you have a positive, it's like, okay, well, that was good moving on and you don't let that bathe over you in any way to like, hey, no, like seriously, let's celebrate that. That was an accomplishment. That was good. I enjoyed that. I mean, it's the day-to-day thought process that sort of fits

23:55why a gratitude journal is not the dumbest thing in the world. We love it when we roll their eyes at it, but it's like, no, no, no, no, point. You can get lost real quick in everything sucks or everything's only mid or whatever is the kids say and we're not pointing out all the positives and the good things. It's like, hey, no, take a second and go, that was really cool. I appreciate that. That was neat. I want to do that again. I appreciate that person. I thank that person. All those different things. That can easily get underwhelmed and put under the bridge and you don't ever talk about it and you just move on to the next crappy thing and then we focus like hell and we worry all night about the crappy thing and we, the meme where you worry what somebody else is thinking and you've got them over here sound asleep never thinking about you at all but they're taking up all this space in your mind as you're doing it. I don't know that I do a very good job of it at all but I have felt like in the last couple days some, some stuff has been really good or positive and I went, yeah, you know what? Okay, that's cool. What's? Yeah. Let's take a minute.

24:59Stay five minutes. Take 10 minutes. Let's tell somebody. We don't tell, we don't tell enough people when something's positive. We never tell anybody. We, we, we, we internalize it and kind of go, yeah, that was cool when we move on but we don't, you know, like, I mean, and maybe it, maybe I'm the one that doesn't but I think I'm probably within the norm with a lot of people. We don't call buddies or friends and go, hey, let me tell you this cool thing. It happened. We don't do it. Well, one of why I think you think it's like when you said that to me, I'm thinking, I hate, I don't want people thinking I'm bragging. It goes back when you're a kid. Like, I don't want my friends thinking, oh, he's just bragging. Like, I mean, I sit silly but I think that's the key on trying to find the true friends. I mean, you're not calling the transactional guy that whatever and going, hey, closing the count today, suck it. Like, you know, you're not doing that. I mean, it's, it's, it's like, no, hey, I've been working toward this. Yeah. You know, appreciate, you know, or, hey, you know, I'm working toward this. You went to lunch with

26:02you last week, talk to you, you kind of helped me get my mind off of ferment. I really appreciate that. I succeeded on this and you played a role in that without even knowing it by just being a good friend. Yeah. Nobody says those words or not nobody, but not enough. No, you're right. I don't tell him. I mean, the only person I brag on, I look bad. The only person that I'll say good things to or it's the Hillary because I, you know, again, we go through this whole thing, you know, you call, we call life then it's awesome. But, you know, I try to tell her the positive things or something really good. It's happened to us as a family, you know, like we got some good information on the day and, and I, and I called her and I was just like, you know, hey, I was literally, because I literally was telling her, I was like, you know, I'm just getting so swamped in. I feel like there's bills left and right. There's, you know, we're doing some things that might be overstating, extending, extending, overextending things. Yeah. Because we made these decisions

27:03to do something to the house or whatever. And then, you know, something really good did happen other day and it happened by chance. And so I called her like, holy crap, you're going like, you know, talking about God answering prayers and, and, and, you know, she was so pumped. But again, it's like a lot of the stuff though, for me, I put myself in situations that I probably don't need to do. You know, if it's like, hey, I want to add, like we're trying to add a room at the house. We've been wanting to do it for six years. Well, I've told her, if we do this, it's going to put, we're reaching a little bit because, you know, we budget everything out for the whole year and we got vacation as budget out whatever. And, you know, I told her, I was like, you know, we're going to, it's going to be tight. And soon as I say that, you know, we start the project and then something big happens where I have to pay a bunch of money. And, and then budget for that, you know, and so, you know, you start, and I told her, I was like, I wish I could find other

28:05avenues, other ways to make income, because, you know, in my job, you know, it's kind of the same thing every, every, every, every month, you know, matters, you know, matters plus and whatever. But anyway, anyway, it is good when you have a win. You're right. And I was so excited because it was, it was, it was a, it was a prayer answer because, you know, because it was causing a lot of stress on us because we were trying to, you know, we were cutting back on some different things that we didn't, I didn't really want to, but we had to. It's what you do, you know, and, uh, so, but anyway, you're right, though, man, we need to, I think the gratitude list is awesome. You know, you mentioned that a minute ago. I thought it was silly too when I first started it. But, but then you, you get into it and it makes, it makes a lot of sense because, like, I'm like, if I don't like someone or if there's someone that's really bothering me, um, and I just can't stand that individual for whatever reason,

29:09like my therapist, like, hey, just write it a letter, write, write some, write what you want to say to them on a piece of paper. Get it out of your head and it's amazing how, how much better it away. Yeah, thought away. And I've done that. And again, usually 99% of the time, it's me having a problem with somebody. They don't know what's going on. They don't know. I don't like them or, they don't give a shit stuff. They don't care. Um, but in my head, I've made up this whole scenario on why they've crossed me, which is so dumb. Um, but yeah, that's really helped, you know, writing things, writing a letter, um, journaling. Um, because it's amazing. I always tell my kids, get it out on a piece of paper and throw it away. You'll feel so much better. Don't leave it locked in your, in your mind. Um, so anyway, anyway, it's one of the, it's one of the things. Where when you're trying to, you know, you're, you create friendships and all these things and it's why you need, it's important to meet a lot of different people and different walks of life and people that are not the same as you. And there's a lot of reason for that. There's just

30:13diversity of thought, diversity of friendships, people that have different life experiences that enrich everybody as you talk through them all, all those very obvious things. But the other reason too is it's incredibly complicated to have best friends who are doing the same line of work as you are. Because like you said, if you have some big professional wins or something, it does feel like bragging or potentially it's something they didn't get or there's some sort of whatever. I mean, you know, it's, it's a different dynamic. You better be real mature to be able to talk to those people about some, some wins and some things that you're doing that they're not doing because there's too much of a competitive angle. And it's one of the, you know, it's, it's one of the, the positives because I mean, you and, you might, you and I have superseded any problem with this in a thousand ways. And really, I've never had an issue in, in 13 years or whatever it is now. But it's one of the big positives from like, you know, podcast partners and things is everybody's pulling in the same direction. So if you have friendships with some of those people like, hey, we're all trying to make this thing work in the same ways. And everybody has an interest in this in some capacity. However,

31:20you know, there's also a, hey, be careful along getting into any type of business with any friends because if something doesn't work and you feel a responsibility that's different and it's just, it's, it's tough. I mean, there's a whole different, there's a whole different element to that if you're just kind of casual. But I think this is one of the ways why having being open to people, being open to friendships in different ways, not looking the other way automatically because something just doesn't seem like it fits. A lot of times what doesn't fit if you can kind of get there, you can just be happy for each other and you have such a pure way to go about it because you're not connected in any business way. You can get, it can get hairy quickly if you have it all connections in any kind of business or monetary fashion because the world just is what the world is. It is what it is. I mean, yeah, and I keep going back, you know, you mentioned earlier about friends and, and you know, I have my core people, you know, you're in my group for sure.

32:23And the order I've gotten, I think with my core guys is, I know everything about literally everything and they know everything about me. And I think being affordable is not trying to be cool, macho, manly, like I'm not trying to be cool. Like I'm just trying to get better in life, be a better friend, father, husband, brother, you know, and, and I think though I think that truly have a true friendship with anybody, especially if you're really close to them. You got to be like to me, I got, I mean, you got to be an open book. I mean, because if you call, you know what I mean, like my group, my core, my core people, I know everything good or bad, good or bad about them. And there's no judgment at all, but I know if they're in a, if they're in a situation and there's some stuff going on, I understand it because they've told me kind of where, where they've been in the past. You know what I mean? And I've had some friends that

33:30that tell me what they, what I want to hear, so to speak, but I know they're not telling me what's in the core of their heart. And in an overtime, you know, they're, and maybe they're not ready, you know, I get all, I'm not trying to, you know, say you're going to be friends with me, they're telling me your whole life story, giving your testimony. But I mean, I do think it over time, that, you know, to have that connection with someone, because what happens, this is me, what happens is I start pulling back because I'm like, hey, I'm telling you, you know everything about me and you're helping me out, you're my butt, like, whatever, but I start to feel like I'm just bitching to them because they're not giving me anything back. But we're not helping each other grow, you know, iron, short, resigned, right? And, and then so all of a sudden, I just pull out like I'm out because I've got to be a balance. Yeah, it's got to be a balance, man, because I've lost friends because of this, because I'm like, hey, because I don't like feeling like I'm a burden

34:31anybody, you know, and, and if we're in this together and we're, and you're my, my buddy or whatever, my homie, then we're going to help each other grow. And I'm going to be there for you. That's what friends, I mean, that's, that's what friends do. If you need me, I'll come, you know, whatever, I'll drop anything for any of my friends. But there's got to be a, like you said, there's got to be a balance. There's got to be trust, because the older I get, my circle gets smaller, but, but like I've said in the past, I've had to do that to protect me because I want people that are going to make me better. I want people that are going to hold me accountable. And I just want to be around good people, you know, do you think there's a benefit to the free end that doesn't tell you much about themselves, but they really are engaged in your story and ask really good questions and almost act as a therapist in some way. Or does there absolutely have to be that balance?

35:31For me, balance. Okay. I got it there. I'll pay her. Like, I mean, you know, I'm saying, like, like, like she's there to listen. Yeah, you know, you call your buddy. You're like, Hey, I got this really serious thing. I'm going to tell you about it in their first responses. Well, how does that make you feel? It's like, okay, no, come on. Like, all right. All right. I do that. Yeah. But I mean, I guess chase, that's a good question. Look, that's a good question. I don't know for me, like, for me, I answered it honestly, but I do think. Been there are two types of people. I say this every week. You're either in therapy or you need to be. That's it. That's the, that's the, that's the list. That's the list. That's the way I can answer that one bit because you know, like, I mean, you said it, like, we just said a minute ago, like, there's, there's got to be balance. And that's in anything. You know, I mean, marriage, whatever it is, like, but yeah, man, I just think I don't want to, I don't want to, I don't want a friend as a therapist. I want my friend as my friend. Don't judge me. But you know, don't judge me. Be on my

36:34team. Let's figure this out. Be honest. I mean, you don't have to blow smoke. If I'm being a shithead, tell me I'm being a shithead. That's fine. Yeah. And I think that to me is because the balance is where the trust comes in because I, if you're going to tell me I'm being cheated, I gotta, I gotta do enough about you to figure out when you are being one too. Exactly. And not get offended when you go, Hey, being your ass like an asshole, you're like, dude, I know I'm sorry. Yeah. Yeah. Because I think, again, growing up, you know, you wanted to make friends with everybody because you want everybody to like you. And that's, we all do. That's, that's, that's what we want. We want to be light. And, uh, we want to be light. And then you get older. Yeah, you get older. It's like, man, I don't want any more friends. Like I'm good. I can barely bounce out what I have, you know, I will feel bad occasionally because I'll sit there and like, I mean, people I really like, I mean, like, pretty good friends and the phone will ring and you're like, I just love a lot of energy right now. Like, I, I, just, I, I love you. Like, you always want to sit in text. I mean, but say, here's the thing.

37:38Like, if you're going to pull you on, as you sit in the text, it goes, Hey, look, I appreciate you. I will call you back. I'm just tired. Like, uh, if you need something, shoot me a text, shoot me an audio message. I'll respond. I love that. I'm just, yeah, I have people like, yeah, I have people that know me. They know I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I ain't got 30 minutes talking. I don't know. It's five o'clock. I'm tired. I do have a couple buddies. It's really hard to get off the phone for in less than like 45 minutes. And I go, I just, my schedule does not fit this right now. And when you see them calling, that's, they're going to talk for 45 minutes. Yeah. Yeah. Man, at me. I can't like, like, I mean, I know what you mean. That's, and I'm a weird bird because especially if I'm pretty busy, like, I'm an introvert. I've talked about this. Like, I know I talk for a living, but I mean, I'm an introvert. I need time to regroup. And I've got like an important call or a podcast or a meeting. I really need like 45 minutes of silence before that. I've got to like recharge back into that mode. I can't, I'm not that guy who's just going to stay on the phone to the very last second hang up and then hit the button and go,

38:41well, come in. It gets me. Yeah. I don't gain energy from that. Dude, I'm with you. I get drained around crowds because you got to, like, I'm sure, you know, you walk into a building and people, they love you. So they're talking to you, you know, you're smiling. You're talking. Make conversation. And it's like, you've got to be on because if you walk into a building with your hat, your, your hat pull down, there's your straight in air pods and air pods in like, he's an asshole. Like, chasing an asshole. I mean, you know, because you people want to talk to you. I think I, I think I've told you this. I come off like that. I'm pretty sure in press boxes, especially baseball because I do. I have air pods in and I've got my bag and I sit in the corner. So when I walk into the press box, I've sat in the same seat since 2009. I mean, I literally have not moved. And I walk in the door and I do. I have air pods in. I've got my bag. I'll go sit in my bag down. I'll go, lots of times I'm on the phone even. So people think I'm talking to

39:45them and I'm not. I'm talking to somebody else in my, in my air pods. I will go into the other room or wherever I'll get like a, and I grab two waters. And if it's a night game, I'll grab a sprite zero. That is what I grab. Always two waters and a sprite zero that might give me a little pick me up later. If I need, I know it has no caffeine, but it just tricks my mind, uh, whatever. Yeah. And then I'll, I'll sit down in my chair and I'll get my computer out. I've still got my air pods in and then finally, like, I take them out. And then I talk to the people directly beside me. And okay, like whatever. But anybody else, like, I'm oblivious. Like just, and I know like, especially those students are like, my God, he's been here forever. He's the old man now. And he's such a jerk. I don't like that. I'm like, I answer, answer me honest on this. Okay. Uh-huh. So if you're walked in there, or whatever, or you see a group of people and you're like, hey, I don't really want to talk to them. And then you get like, you're on the phone. You turn your ringer off and you get like, you're on the phone. Just, oh, I can just keep walking. Oh, often.

40:46I do too. Often. I do it more and more. I'm going at, or like you said, if you have air pods in, you can just look at somebody and go, hey, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm talking to them. It's that. I know I'm a, and this one I even don't feel bad about because I think it's, there's like a, I think I'm right on the social circle here. If I'm out running and somebody's like, hey, and trying to talk, I don't want to stop to talk because it gets me out of my rhythm and whatever. Yeah, I can't. And I think sometimes you come off like, you're the jerk for not stopping. But if I'm, if I'm walking, maybe all right, talk a few minutes and I might leave. But if I'm literally running in like in my mode, I don't want to, because I've got to stop my watch. I've got to stop my headphones. I've got to try to get them started back. I've got my heart rate at a certain spot. Like I, I get that I'm not out running in the Olympics or anything. But in my own little world, this is important. You are. And this is my, I mean, it's my stuff or whatever. Yeah. No, I'm with you. You're the middle working out. Like you're running. You don't, I,

41:51I'm with you, man. Like that's, that's, and people pull up beside you. Hey, man. Who is signing today? You know, why did that code? So I'm really good at the, I'll do this thing where I'll like run by and I'll be like, I'll like wave and say hello, but I can't hear anything. They say back, because I got headphones on them. And then I just kind of like do a little wave. I'm like, yeah, hey, hey, have a good one. Yeah. That's so great, man. How's your mama now? Yeah. All right. Good. All right. That's, that's so good. Moving on. Yeah. I mean, that's, I've done that. Yeah. I was thinking, man, I'm not the only one that fakes phone calls. I feel a little weird talking and grocery stores on the phone because I feel like everybody can hear me. Like, I'll walk through the store and Kroger and I'll be grocery shopping like with airpods in talking and I feel a little weird. Like I feel like people are, I'm interrupting or something. I don't love talking in public. Yeah. You know, you know, it's, it's funny. You say that, Jayce, because I was in Kroger yesterday by my ruffles and my French onion dip. I've,

42:53I've started eating that every day after work after I've run my two miles. I'm trying to shed about 10 pounds for the, for me, for the beach. So we, we're trying to shed 10 pounds. So we're eating ruffles and don't judge me, man. Like, all right. Sorry. Go ahead. I'm trying to, I'm I'm cutting out my, my sweets at night. Like, dude, I'm a mess. I told you, we all know this. Everybody listen to shows knows I'm a mess. I'm just trying to cut back when I can, but I'm, for whatever reason, I really enjoy ruffles. I've never, I've never had it before. I've never had it before. Yeah, obviously. Fantastic. But I was, I was in Kroger yesterday afternoon, right after, right before I was coming home from work and stopping in to get a few things at the store. And I literally, there was a couple ladies in the store that were shopping and they were in the phone. Like, they're a little earplugs. Like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, just talking loud and, and it was weird because no one was, no one in the store was talking to each other. But everybody was on their phones, having full conversation as loud as can be.

43:55And I was just like, man, times of change. Like, you know, because growing up, I remember going to grocery store with my mom, like, I loved it because you got to see people. My mom would talk to everybody. Yeah, conversations and now no one wants to be, no one wants you to talk to them. You know, like, it's just, everybody wants to be left alone. Let me get my stuff and get the heck out. And I even use self-checkout if even if I have like 30 items because I don't want to, I don't have to go through the main, the main checkout thing. Yeah, yeah. I'll go to the self-checkout and just do it myself, even if it's, that's so funny. Even if it's a lot of stuff. Uh-huh. Well, I'm glad you fake call me. I mean, fake, uh, you just got to make sure you're a ringer's off because I have made the mistake of acting like I was on the phone in my phone. Then it starts buzzing. And I go, oh, what's that? Yeah, then you excels. Oh, what the heck? Well, my ringer is really never on, which is stupid for my job because I do really get calls. I have to answer in real time. But I leave my phone on sleep mode a lot of times. And I'll just, because what I do is I fill up my

44:56favorites tab with people that if they, it will ring through the sleep mode. So you'll see that. But if it doesn't, you, it's just, I'll see it within five minutes and go, oh, okay, I'll call them back. And then I, I call them back. But I don't like my phone ringing. It like, it messes with my peace. It pisses me off. I'm with you. I've never, my, it's always on my brain. I've become one of those people. And it's so terrible. Like I know most men are the exact opposite. Just to shoot me a text. Yeah. If it's, if it's textible, shoot me to text. I'll respond. Isn't that funny, man? Um, yeah, I know. Look, all this stuff, though, is about figuring out yourself and like, how you gain energy and how you don't get depleted over stuck is look, we're from the south. We're really nice. We want to cater to people in a lot of ways, especially professionally in in friendship ways. But they're speaking of balance. As we close, there's a balance in knowing what you need yourself to be able to operate and give them yourself those things to be able to be efficient and operate as effectively as you can in those, uh, in those moments. I mean,

46:01that's a, yeah, that's, that's, that's a big deal. So you got to have it. You got to have balance, man. 70 something degrees is the weekend plays out. We're getting at, I will see, it's going to get cold again. So this is probably the last little fault spring we're going to get before the, before it does warm up a little bit. This time goes on. Baseballs are used in this weekend. So there's no, uh, there's no home baseball. They are, uh, any Ole Miss news or just, everybody's doing good baseball, football, basketball, basketball, basketball's tear. I mean, yeah, they're not playing very well right now. They've lost 11 in a row. I believe is the number. It, it, it date. That's not good. Yes, something like that. Uh, baseball's been good. We'll see how they play Baylor at three o'clock this afternoon. So in about four hours is when they get the, uh, they get the bears. Let me ask you this real quick before we get on. Uh-huh. This team, this coach beer team, um, is it worse? Is this a worse team than can

47:03Kermit's last year? That team? I mean, I know, I know, I mean, town is town, but I feel like they're for whatever reason. Okay. This team probably has even less ability knowing how to win. However, you want to phrase that. I don't think this team knows how to win at all. I do think they're more skilled in, well, no, let me back up. I don't know. It's a great question because this team rarely gets their tails just kicked. This team just doesn't have any idea how to win the last four minutes of a basketball game. And the same thing happens over and over and over and over and over and over again. I think Kermit's team had let go of the rope and had given up. So they were getting blown out more. And we're not as competitive throughout the 40 minutes of a game, but that's a, that's a nucleus that still was very good for Chris. And you're one and even you're two. I mean, break was on that team. Morale was on that team. I mean, you know, they,

48:05they, they, they, there was some dudes. It wasn't completely, you know, now it was not a efficient roster all the way through, but that's what beer's problem is too. I mean, they've just done a bad job. So yeah, they're, they're similar in their own ways. I don't, that's not a bad comparison because that is the comparison when they are three and 12 in the league. I believe right now. And I feel like nowadays through the end of this new era, you got to win. I don't think anybody says, I don't think I mean, I'm not, and you're resetting every season. Yeah, but I'm, but, but you can't, I feel like in the SEC, the way we are, you can't have, like, you can not, there's too much money on the line to have a year like that. And if you have that year, you have to answer really hard questions and figure out why and not have any ego throughout the process of discovering where that ends. That's what, yeah, because what happened? Because you know, we, we know beer's a top 10 coach. Like, you know, he can coach, you know, he can recruit. So why? Yeah. Yeah. So, so where, where did it, like,

49:08what happened? Yeah, I'm always fascinated by that because it's like, you know, you, you pick the dudes out, like it's, uh, you know, yeah, it's interesting, man. And I know basketball is a game of, it's tough, man. Um, but other teams are winning. I mean, they are, and almost one last minute. Anyway, it's tough. I, I know he'll get it straight, but I'm just, I've had some people, I've talked to that were like, um, they're like, man, you know, he, you think he'll survive. And I'm like, what do you mean? They're like, well, I mean, it's a new, it's a new era right now. You can't, you can't lose, you can't go three and whatever in the SEC, like, they pay them way too much money. And, and, and, you know, and I always have the roof. And it's like, you got to, you got to win. You got to go at least a tournament. And, uh, I'm like, dude, I don't like it. It's got to be mild too. So there's a lot there to say. And I love it. Don't look, I'm not trying, I'm not trying to love beer. I'm just saying it is one of those things where we're in a different age. The, the, the era is like two years old. That's it. That's where we are. Right. So, and just like,

50:11if, if Pete next year goes six and whatever pressure, they might be got, yeah, I mean, it's, it's the new era. Um, so I mean, I hope we don't win that championship. I got anyway, man, hope you have a wonderful weekend. Yeah, beginning of March, again, we are through two months. It's crazy. Hey, get on those goals and stuff, because the year's just going to fly back and look up, it's going to be the middle of summer, the back half of the year. Let me talk about Christmas before long. I mean, here, here, here, here, wishing the months and days away, guys. So yeah. Thanks to all of you. Let us know what's going on in the meantime, social media, the message board and otherwise, and we will catch you again next week. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take