The LoCo Experience
The LoCo Experience is produced and sponsored by LoCo Think Tank - and sometimes others! Our mission is to uncover as much business education as possible while getting to know the founders and leaders of amazing organizations. You'll feel like you really know our guests after each episode, and if we're doing our job well, you'll learn business principles and tips from them along the journey and be both inspired and entertained. Episodes feature a range of local and regional business and community leaders as guests in a conversational interview format. The more interesting the journey, the better the experience!
The LoCo Experience
EXPERIENCE 172 | The Tim Taylor to my Mr. Wilson - My Next Door Neighbor Chris Corbin, General Manager of Clarity Project Management
In April of 2020, in the early days of the lockdowns and pandemic threat response - we got new neighbors. Days after, we invited them to our then-12th annual backyard Cinco de Mayo party. Thinking “Oh, great, we’ve moved in next door to crazy people” they politely declined our invitation, but did accept some leftover pork carnitas and cilantro-lime coleslaw I set on the fence. But after eating that leftover pork their hearts were won - and we’ve been over-the-fence-friends with regular patio time and meals together ever since, and occasional mini-golf excursions in the ‘hood.
Clarity Project Management was born of a collision of interests between Chris and his now-wife, Kristi Corbin. She’d been laid off from an educational sales background, and became more and more interested in the contracting work that Chris was doing for a larger company. Months later, she’d started an LLC, gotten some jobs, and hired Chris in a contract (now full-time) role. He was soon joined by his son and some industry contacts - and it was on! Clarty does high-impact finish carpentry for bars and restaurants and venues and retail enterprises all across the country, and Chris and his team go on 3-6 week high-intensity missions to complete these projects.
I told Chris we could party during the podcast, and he took me up on it. We drank about 2 of the 3 liters of cabernet in the Black Box and smoked two fatty J’s during the show while he shared his interesting journey - and then we played drinky ping pong after, and had more fun conversation during the walk home together. Chris is a creative misfit that has found a great-fit place in the world, and I’m so glad he and Kristi moved in next door during those strange days of 2020! So please join me in enjoying my conversation with my interesting and entertaining neighbor - Chris Corbin.
The LoCo Experience Podcast is sponsored by: Logistics Co-op | https://logisticscoop.com/
Follow us to see what we're up to:
Facebook
Music By: A Brother's Fountain
In April of 2020, in the early days of the lockdowns and pandemic threat response, we got new neighbors. Days after we invited them to our then 12th annual, days after we invited them to our then 12th annual annual backyard Cinco de Mayo party, thinking, oh great, we've moved in next door to crazy people. They politely declined our invitation, but they did accept some leftover pork carnitas and cilantro lime coleslaw I set on the fence. But after eating that leftover pork, their hearts were one. And we've been over the fence friends with regular patio time and meals together ever since, and the occasional mini golf excursions in the hood. Clarity Project Management was born of a collision of interest between Chris and his now wife, Christy Corbin. She'd been laid off from an educational sales background, and became more and more interested in the contracting work that Chris was doing for a larger company. Months later, she'd started an LLC, gotten some jobs, and hired Chris in a contract. Now full time role. He was soon joined by his son and initial contacts and it was on. Clarity does high impact Finnish carpentry for bars and restaurants and venues and retail enterprises all across the country and Chris and his team go on three to six week high intensity missions to complete these projects. I told Chris we could party during the podcast and he took me up on it. We drank about two of the three liters of Cabernet in the black box and smoked two fatty J's during the show while he shared his interesting journey. And had even more fun conversation during the walk home together. Chris is a creative misfit that found his great fit place in the world. And I'm so glad he and Christy moved in next door during those strange days of 2020. So please join me in enjoying my conversation with my interesting and entertaining neighbor, Chris Corbin. Welcome back to the Loco Experience Podcast. I'm joined today by my next door neighbor and the general manager of Clarity Project Management, Chris Corbin. How you doing, Kurt? Welcome to the show. Yeah. Thank you very much. Appreciate the invite. First time, uh, like we've been to see a couple of music shows and stuff, but mostly we're just hanging out in your backyard. Or my backyard or at the mini golf course. Yeah, or there's a, there's a little fence in between us right here, right? We still see each other, you know, but yeah. So nice to be here in the same room. Thanks for being on the show. Yeah, absolutely. I'm excited to be here. So what does Clarity Project Management do? Yeah. Clarity Project Management provides specialized labor and project management services, uh, for commercial environments and, uh, for general contractors and owners, uh, manufacturers, especially the carpentry, all, all carpentry. Really? We focus on the, uh, the finished carpentry aspect of it. Um, typically more complex type of projects. Fair enough. Okay. Yeah. All right. Um, And so what does your, what does your job entail? Like when you're out on trips, like you, you came back from New York recently, you're doing other projects, like, well, what does your job look like? You're gone for three weeks or two months. Yeah. You know, you see me, you know, and sometimes you're around a lot. Yeah. Sometimes you're not around. Yeah. You know, and, and, you know, Typically, you know, we'll be talking over the fence and I'll say, ah, you know, I'll be back in about, you know, six weeks, eight weeks, whatever it is. And I'm clean shaven and you know, I'm kind of fat. Yeah. Yeah. I got, I got, I got, I got a little, got a little pudge on me or something like that around the, around the waist and stuff. And then, um, and then I go out and, uh, I work and that's all I do. Uh, I work, I come home. 14 hour, 16 hour days, you know, um, the, our work days are typically, uh, 10 hour days. Okay. Um, is, is where we cut it. We work six days a week, a lot of times. So we're doing 60 hour weeks. You do that for a couple of weeks in a row or effort stuff. It's a lot, you know, to give you an idea, you know, we did that. You're probably working after hours and before hours to get the other stuff coordinating. I don't, you know, that's where Christie really, um, the back office, she, she, she does all of that and really, and, and she, she makes the company run. I'm, I'm just out there working. Cause when I get to the end of my day, I have, I have very little that I have that I can put forth into what it takes to manage the business, um, you know, and, and to run the business because I'm working. Yeah, the business, you know, and, um, and out there. So, uh, you know, we, we go over things and, um, you know, I try to share wherever I can to kind of help guide her in the right, the right direction. But, you know, we're going to need as far as some, some materials or things like, you know, and, and that sort of stuff, I take care of it, you know, it's more than that, you know, we, you know, You know, we work all over the country. So, you know, she deals with all these different states. You know, we don't just file taxes in Colorado. We file taxes and everywhere you earn money, you know, a dozen different states and payroll taxes are filed there and to make sure that all of these guys are, are, are getting paid and that the money's flowing and that, you know, when I do have to go out and buy materials or whatever it is, that everything's in place there. you know, to be able to do it. And, um, you know, really, I just, when the, when the projects start, I just, that's the, the project is, is all I can really focus on, you know, there's a, there's a lot to them. Yeah. Yeah. Fair enough. Um, I probably can't really imagine it, you know, as a banker, I would go out and see construction projects, you know, homes under construction and process and stuff. It is, it is. Appreciate the complexity. Sure, sure. It's, it, you know, and it, and it's, and it's something that, you know, I've, I've learned to accept over the years, you know, not many people say thank you. And, you know, people don't typically come in and look and think, Oh, this is really a beautiful space though. How many swings of a hammer? The, the amazing carpenters that did this, you know, they just. Don't they go to the designer or they look at how pretty the finishes on the material or they gloss right by it because we are in some, some space that you're, you're not there to look at the wood on the wall. You know, it's there to create the environment. So when we're doing it, it's the most important thing that there is the moment we're done. It's, it's secondary to the customer's wallet. Yeah. Yeah. Well, so it goes. Yeah, absolutely. Um, do you want to talk about any recent projects that were interesting or cool? You went to New York recently, is that right? We did. We did. We did a big project in New York that was, um, that was called Electric Shuffle. Um, so they, uh, nightclub, no, it's a shuffleboard table. So like you may have gone into a bar in the past and had the shuffleboard tables, right? Well, um, that was what it is. Uh, and, and, uh, but now of course, with everything in technology that's out there and available, um, they can create out of these great games with it. And there's cameras that watch where the puck goes and keep your score and you can play against other people and your whole team. Um, and, um, it, it, Kind of married bowling, right? Yeah, yeah. And, um, and the event, so. And, um, did something very similar here for the folks in Colorado down in Denver called Flight Club. Oh. And it's all darts. Um, so it's down at the end of the 16th Street Mall. And, um, you go in there and you do the same thing. So you're building like the bar furnishings. Exactly. Even putting the wall materials on and different things like that or depends what the customer needs. Really? So when we come into it, it's rough, drywall, maybe some framing or something like that. We build everything and then they come and they put their electronics or their game pieces in place, whatever it may be. Or, you know, if you're a retailer or whatever it is as well, you know, we kind of, So all you got to do is come in and hang your clothes or put your product on the shelf. And do you get like a nice set of plans or is it kind of, yeah, uh, well, you know, that, that kind of comes with qualifying your customer, right too. It takes good customers to have a successful business. So, um, I always, tell, tell, you know, my customers and people that come to me, you know, it's, it's, you give me good information, you know, I'll give you back a good quote. I can quote, I can quote off of a napkin at a bar. If that's what you want, I'm not sure you're going to like the number. Um, so the more information you give, the better the quote is and things like that. So typically what we do is we have a, um, a 10, 000 piece puzzle and 200, 300 of the pieces are missing, right? And we have to, our job and why they pay us really is to come in and between the reality of the site and what the designers and the architects have dreamed up together, um, find everything that they missed and make sure that these two come together. And especially if it's a re thing where you're taking an existing space that was something else. And it's like, whoa, the lines aren't actually close to where you thought they were. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, it'd be different if it was dollar general and it's the same footprint everywhere. But a lot of times we find ourselves, you know, that the one in New York was in the bottom of the Virgin hotel. Um, the one in, in Denver, we're talking about. that were, uh, jammed together, or like a restaurant and a cell phone store, you know, so there definitely are some, um, some challenges there, but that's when coming in and, and being a owner or operator, um, kind of makes a difference, being close to it, right? Yeah, look for that win win kind of thing. You know, you've got 10 people, right? Right. Cool. Um, should we talk about like the, the inception, uh, and you, you guys moved in, uh, in a wild time, like April of 2020. And then like a few days later, I think we invited you to our annual backyard party. And you know, it's like, uh, that whole thing was, was, was all crazy. Yeah. That was like right in the middle of COVID. Um, it's, it's, you know, Christie and I were just moving in together. That was brand new. How many months have you guys been dating? Oh, we had been together for a while. Yeah. Yeah. But it was still first time living together. Oh, yes. Yes. We'd been, she lived in Denver and we were traveling back and forth, you know, for, for a good long while. And, um, decided that we were going to go for it together. And it really kind of started out cause it's still a little iffy. And again, we're not in business together, we're dating and she's also my landlord, right? So the studio was mine, the house was hers. And then, um, you know, we just crazy about each other. So it didn't take very long for all of that stuff to kind of melt together. But yes, you did invite us to that, that party. And we looked over the fence and we were like, you know, I think this COVID thing might be something, I'm not sure if we're going to go over there or not. Yeah. But then you put the, uh, you know, the, the taco meat on the left over carnitas. Yeah, listen, if, if, if I could have had a little time machine, I would have went back and I would have gone to the, yeah, listen, it was delicious, man. At that point I was like, we, you know, we, we've got some good neighbors over here. So. Yeah, that was good. I ate off that for a couple of days. Well, we didn't have as many attendees as normal for some reason. We did spend most of our time outside, you know, so we were being, uh, well, you were exactly like us. Yeah. And we, we, we, I think everyone spent a little more time outside and we were just talking about the, the 8 PM howl, you know, and how full that was through the neighborhood and everyone, you know, howling through the neighborhood. Like riding your bicycle through Old Town on a Friday night and there isn't anybody on the street. No, we were, you know, we would, we would hit Vato's and, uh, and get some tacos and margaritas to go that we were gonna drink at home. And, um, a lot of times we just ended up out here in the middle of Mountain Avenue sitting in the grass, you know. We dozed off one afternoon and I woke up and I was like, Okay. We need to get up. I know no one's around, but we're laying in weird. Yeah. Yeah. We're going to nap. We should at least be in city park. So, so in, at that time, had you started your kind of, uh, cannabis focused construction company already, or was that, you were still working for the man at that time? Yeah, I really, I was, I was still, I was still under the thumb, you know, before I found my independence. And, you know, for many years I was a, uh, wannapreneur, right. I had, you know, had dreams of, of being an entrepreneur, you know, from very young age and had all these great ideas and, uh, you know, halfhearted attempts at different things and, uh, and then life and kids come, you know, and it became the risk of taking that leap. Yeah, yeah. And, um, you know, as life has it and, um, uh, Christy, um, luckily for me is my, my wonderful second wife. And, um, so the, you know, the, the, the first marriage was coming to an end. Um, the kids were leaving the nest, kids, kids are leaving the nest. You know, the company that I was working with, it really had started out as a larger family company, but, um, it really grew. Grown into a large company and could see their, their team. Less and less fun to work for. Yeah, teeing up to sell and it's just becoming more, you know, checking boxes and, um, you know, I'd like to run a little loose. Anybody that works with me knows that, but I also get things done. Right. So, um, you know, I, I read a lot of, you're, you're a motorcycle rider, I know, and, um, And then dirt, I ride dirt bikes and you know, and dirt bikes loses fast. You kind of, yeah. I've been riding dirt bikes since I was a kid. So I've kind of ran loose and fast my whole life, which leads to a few scars, but a lot of good stories. Yeah, yeah. Fair enough. Fair enough. Well, looking forward to the loco experience chapter at the end. Um, and so like, what was the, if, if, if you're, I'm happy to share it because you had kind of a I was like a cannabis retailing finished carpentry company that did a few projects Yeah, you know when I was when I was still doing the the installation for the large company that I was out seeking new new businesses and new markets and I had started researching cannabis and Had gone to MJ biz and Las Vegas Went there and coming from our retail trade shows. Yeah, you already kind of knew to take the lead The cannabis, cannabis was, I mean, it was bumping. People were excited. There was young people, there was innovation. Uh, there was, uh, you know, there were, there were, you know, older people towards the end of their careers. There's really, really everyone in everyone's trying to take this market and, and get it to a, um, a good place, you know, and again, that was many years ago where I went there, but from that moment on, I was inspired by that. So kind of circling back around, moving in with Christie. Um, you know, my marriage had ended, uh, which took me to a, you know, tough, tough place financially and things like that. Basically 0. 1. I got my motorcycle. My kids are gone. Well, you know, I had that and like, uh, um, an old Datsun that didn't run and, um, I'd really kind of lost everything at that point. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, it's, um, it's one of those things, you know, you have a choice in life, you know, every single day of I can. I look at it as a line and you can decide what side of that line you can stand on. You can, you can be a victim or you can be, uh, you fresh gracious, you fresh started, uh, yeah, in an amazing way. Honestly, like you guys have had a lot of successes in so short time, everything that hit me, um, I. I just immediately looked at it and found a positive side to it. Right. And, and did that. So, but once I'd lost everything, the fear was gone. I'm like, Hey man, there's nothing else. Right. What else they going to get? Nobody wants the motorcycle or the old Datsun, you know? So I think I'm all right. You know, I got that. And, uh, some tools in my brain. So what can I do? And I went after it for the cannabis business and, uh, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, so tell me about that. Yeah, so that was, uh, uh, Revelation design build, and I actually just recently, um, um, kind of officially kind of closed that down. Okay. And, um, really it was Or at least hibernation anyway. Hibernation, yeah, and I really tried to go in and, and, you know represent them all. You know, there's a lot of larger companies out there that cater to the cannabis industry that say they do everything in house. And in reality, maybe only 20 or 30 percent of it's done in house. So I went out and really tried to do a different model where, um, the designer, the manufacturer, um, you know, um, everyone, the, the POP guy, everyone got some representation in what I was doing and, um, tried a little different. Um, model with them and, uh, did that for a while and met a good, a lot of good people and pointed a lot of good people in the, in the right directions. Didn't make a whole lot of money. And, um, and Christie had been laid off and, uh, for the second time in her career. Yeah. And had been about six months trying to decide what she was like in education sales, educational sales. Yes. So she sold, you know, maintenance and different services to universities and things like that. And, uh, And, um, she'd been listening to me talk about my business and take my calls and things like that. And she said, you know, I, I think I liked that installation business that you were in. Tell me more about that. How could I get that started? And, um, you know, I kind of started doing some consulting for her, kept trying to get revelation, you know, up on its own feet and, uh, stable and, um, Well, the market will tell you what it wants more of, right? And frankly, the cannabis industry hasn't been as strong. You know, there's been, if anything, almost a consolidation rather than an explosion of a lot more stores, it feels like. And I think very much if you, again, and I'm at least here in Colorado, no, no expert in it, but I've been in retail for a long time. And the things that I've seen over the years are, um, you know, drugstores, uh, gas stations, uh, different things like that, that are really mom and pops that, eventually just become consolidated and become part of a bigger group. And you either join the group or you get squashed or you become, you know, some kind of, you know, hybrid or something like a McKesson pharmacy. Right. So it was a mom and pop shop and you know, McKesson rebrands it. That's fair enough. I think so, yeah. I think so. I've never worried too much about what we save. So, but, um, you, you know, really, um, and enjoyed the cannabis business and would love to, to get back into it at, at some level. And, um, you know, and while clarity is, well, clarity could do that work, right. Clarity could absolutely do the work. I just don't necessarily know if, if the construction side of it is, um, is, is where you would want to be with it or not, you know? So I'd like the, um, you know, kind of drawn to the product side of it and things like that. And some of the, the innovation there and, um, and things. So I do love the design piece of it as well, but, um, you know, clarity just, it kept growing and, you know, Christie just kind of needed more and more with it and stuff. And then finally was kind of at a point and says, Hey, um, I can bring on my first employee, you know, you know, I think at that point I, we, we were, I believe we were already married at that point. So you know, it had all kind of come full circle. She's a, she's a fascinating woman, your wife, because like she will sing to the dog when she comes home from yoga class and things like that. But she's also a highly prudent person and like financially very astute and detail oriented. You know, um, I think part of the reason why Christy and I get along so well is, you know, we, we both have performed it, you know, high levels in our, she's fast and loose a little bit too. It's like, well, she's a little tighter than that. You know, she loves me a whole lot. So she kind of holds onto my coattails when she also slows me down a little bit too, which is a good thing at times. But, um, you know, um, really just incredible at what she does, but, um, We also understand and what you hear with the, you know, the talking to the dogs or singing to the plants or whatever it is, that's a form of gratitude, right? And it's that same thing of waking up and intentionally setting forth to have a good day and to put out positivity into the world. And, and that's really what she does. And we do that together and we just kind of reinforce that and we play. So play is a, is a huge part of, um, of our lives and we talk about it and we call it play and it's intentional. That's cool. And, uh, that, that keeps the fun part, but when it's time to get the business done, I just, I just get out of the way, man. She, she goes after it. Yeah. Have you guys played pickleball yet? We have not, but we've owned Pickleball Gear for about two years now. So Well, Jill and I have played, like, three times. Right. Uh, and so, and, you know, so let's go play sometime. Oh yeah, yeah. Absolutely. A little fun. There's a course just around the corner, really, for us. Yes. Yeah, that'd be a lot of fun, so So, um, and then, now, as far as Clarity goes, you're Your son has been a key player in that business. Is that, I know he was wondering what he was going to do if he was going to do the next chapter or anything. Oh, he's absolutely going to move on to the next, next chapter. And you know, and I would encourage him to do that too and all of my kids to move in their directions. I've been, uh, very fortunate and again, very grateful. Yeah, yeah. You have a bunch of great kids. You guys Brady Bunched it really good. Yeah, yeah, we did. It's kind of crazy. Yeah, I'd love to see the painting on the side of that bus. But, um, but yeah, it's good. The kids have all worked for me at some point. I have three kids that have all helped me with the business and different things. Revelation and also working with Clarity. Um, so, uh, What's, uh, next for you guys, uh, with Clarity, with other ventures? I know, I mean, you're, I was at your 50th birthday party. I was actually in my backyard with a hog roast. Um, what, uh, you know, the, the road is both profitable, but also wearing on a, on a 51 year old or nearly. Yeah. Yeah. You know, it's, um, uh, I think Clarity, you know, really, really does do well. And I think Christy is going to continue to push forward with that. And, you know, we've tried to find someone to replace kind of, uh, what I do and, and see how that goes and, uh, would love to be able to keep it, you know, continue to keep it going and, and, and growing in a certain direction, but it does keep me away from home. An awful lot. And while it was great to go and live in Manhattan for three months and bounce all around and have a lot of great experiences and things like that, um, we'd really love to figure out how to be, um, here at home, you know, all the traveling we do, um, everywhere we leave as we're leaving the question, then we look at each other and we say, well, what, what do you think is that the place? And we immediately measure it against Fort Collins and there's a lot of You know, it was nice and I'd go back and, you know, maybe even, uh, You guys were tempted by, was it Toronto or Quebec or something? Um, yeah. Montreal is fantastic. Absolutely love Montreal. That's a great city. Uh, New York was, was intoxicating. Uh, once you come down off of the high of, of being around all that, uh, you realize it's not quite as appealing, uh, when you're in it. Though you're in it and Montreal is just freaking cool, you know, but but Fort Collins is a it's it's hard to beat this special Yeah, it's a it's a unique little place. And I mean, come on. I'm sitting here talking to my neighbor. Yeah You rode your bike over here. I'm gonna walk home today. Yes. I'm probably gonna walk with Um, so, uh, so, you're kind of on the snoop, uh, for, uh, what's next. Clarion will continue, but find it with a, with a more or less travel y team. Yeah, well. Because Christy doesn't really have to travel that much. She has, she travels because she wants to be with you. Exactly. So if we can, you know, How long we do clarity depends on how quickly we can get me out of the field or if we can find the right person, you know, which would really be the dream because it, it very much is a family company and the people that we have, um, working for us. Uh, it's a tight group. We're very dependent on one another when we're out there in the field, you know. You've got these people who've Join your team because you're there and they worked for you at this other place and they worked across the street from you at this other place. And it's not easy, you know, what, what we do and um, we have a lot of pressures on us. So we appreciate the guys that are out there, but we are looking for something as well. And, you know, getting older and what can we do and how can we spend more time in, uh, in Fort Collins and how can we have more, more free time to ourselves, you know, so looking for a different It's like you can do anything, what do you want to do? Yeah. Well, you know, I think that's really what it is. And, and, um, definitely a firm believer in manifestation and, um, and putting things out there to the universe and, um, and keep my eyes open and be smart and just saying things. Right. Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, that's, that's how I survive, um, on the daily, you know, I have my mantras that I go to. So yeah, fair enough. Um, should we, what else would you want people to know about? Yeah. Business. So I guess for listeners out there, if somebody's got a, a nice, well functioning business that could use a project management and a rainmaking kind of brain, uh, as the ownership, you know, with these guys, you contact these guys, but, but you're also thinking about like starting a venture? Well, you know, we, we, we came real close to going into, um, into the event business and, um, doing some networking events and, um, you know, conferences and things like that. Yeah. And, you know, again, kind of, I think, it's part of being where you are in life, you know, and you hit a certain age and things like that, and, um, we just decided, and, you know, we do have the confidence that we can, are going to be successful at whatever it is that we go after. And, um, yeah. Uh, we just want the result of what we do or to what it is that we're doing on the daily to involve love, love, right? To, um, to put forth positivity and love. And right now we're looking at wedding venues. So somebody's got a little farmhouse or a spot they think might be the right wedding venue. Uh, we're out there looking for that too. So we're kind of doing that. We've thought about doing some things with, um, different types of, um, you know, couples, retreats and, and things like that. And, um, putting it together. Uh, uh, Dr. John's competitor downtown, you know, I tell you, I tell you what they, yeah, well, it's funny. It's funny. You say that cause that we always joke and we walk as we walk around all the time, we'll see different spots and say, what would you do there? What would you do there? And I'm constantly telling her about. Uh, you know, saying something about Dr. John's there and, um, how it really, it, it needs a different vibe, but there's a spot in, in town already that's, it's kind of got that over there behind, uh, J Jews, the sushi place, and for the life of me, I can't remember the name of it. Um, and I feel terrible because it's a fantastic store. Like, on Olive Street? Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. So right, right behind there. And, um, you know, it's clean, it's inviting, it's, it's the way an adult store should be. Right. They have a lot of fun stuff in there you feel smutty walking in there, even with your wife. Exactly. Listen, the last time we went by there, they had a bunch of beautiful dresses hanging out front. The doors were rolled up, the, you know, wind was blowing through, it was a nice afternoon. And it's very early. Yeah. Yeah. tastefully decorated and, um, but you know, and, and so we've thought about that with couples. That got y'all excited, probably, thinking about Dr. Johns. Right, well, you know, I couldn't remember the name of it, so it's a really great, we just found it. So there's a new store. Yeah, totally by chance, and it literally is a conversation we have, because Dr. Johns looks so terrible. Right. You know, and um, yeah, it's a cool spot. Well, and Amazon doesn't need to own that whole business. Exactly. Right, like, if I'm shopping for a dildo, I want to hold it in my hand before I order it, you know. Right. When we, we found GoPuff by chance or something like that, and we were trying to get some food, you know, GoPuff, you get your stuff in like 15, 20 minutes or something like GoPuff is. Yeah, it's, it's, they, they get like overstocked, they warehouse it locally and they figure out where they can get it to within like 20 minutes. Oh, interesting. And so, whatever it is, when you go in. It could be groceries. It could be whatever. But Christy's like, you're not going to believe this. She's like, I got groceries that are about to be delivered. And there's going to be six vibrators in there. So I'm like, what? I was like, she's like, and it's going to be here in 10 minutes. I'm like, how? What? How much was it? Yeah, you know, what in the world, you know? But they just have all kinds of products and she ended up giving them out at Christmas and stuff like that. So it was pretty funny, so. Yeah, always, uh, but it just feels kind of more. Private. You want to check it out. Uh, at least in your hand. Yeah. I don't know. I wouldn't know really. I've never bought them. They've got everything on display up there, so all you gotta do is go pop in. You know, have you some sushi and go next door. Yeah, yeah. Um, well I hope you find love in the next venture. I'm sure you will. Whatever that, whatever that looks like for you guys. You know, I think so. We just, we just wanted to have a positive effect, you know. Is that a distraction? Like thinking about, you know, What might be the next venture while Clarion is still operating or Like is it hard to keep the gas pedal down? You know, no, because I think it's one of those. Demand is higher than supply anyway. Yeah, yeah I, I, um, I'm a dreamer, you know And Christy is very much the executor and you know that that's really can be key to success in business if you can balance those now I do have the ability to execute. And that's very much what I do in the field with the crews and things like that. And it's very much, there's no dreaming, it's, it's facts and execution. But having her kind of encourage you and hold you accountable is probably a positive thing for your execution. It is, it is. And you know, and I'm a, I'm a dreamer at heart and I probably should have been an artist or something, or an architect. People accuse me of being whimsical. Yeah. Uh, and with dreamy thing, you know, I, you know, really you, you and I could sit and talk and within a few minutes, you know, I probably have some kind of a handful of crazy ideas to kind of chase down. And um, you know, Christy allows me to go out there and chase all those things and, and she has followed me along on some of that and that's not really her personality. You know, she's, she's a lot of trust. And so she said, Hey, you know, I gotta, I gotta pull back cause it's going in too many directions. You know, for me, those things, I can jump from one to the other very easily and I can do our business. I can start thinking about weddings. I can start dreaming up something that's completely unrelated and um, and things. And, and for me, That's a driver. That's a motivator. That's fun for me. Right. For her, she's about to lose her mind. It, I did the same thing to my poor kids as I moved them to Fort Collins. You know, they didn't know if they were moving to Florida, South Carolina, downtown Atlanta, New York city, or, you know, somehow he ended up in Fort Collins, Colorado. So luckily, but yeah. So, you know, I did a, That wasn't really a big thing to you to consider all those things at the same time. It wasn't. It wasn't. I was seeking it's very much like the business, you know, so I'm seeking and I'm looking and I'm, I'm casting this net, you know, and I'm just looking for something that, you know, Catches my eye and then I see it. And then is it feasible? And if I even see a, uh, an opportunity for success, I'll take it to the next or at least step or three or four, right? Where Chris is like, how about one? Yeah, exactly. And then we'll check it out more. Yeah. Yeah. You know, and, and, and you'll appreciate this as a, as a motorcycle guy too, and going back to the dirt bikes, you know, I had a dirt bike track in my yard, um, Um, for a while and live back in Georgia and a friend of mine would come over and during the week I would build all the jumps and everything that we would do. And he would come back. He'd come over on Saturday morning with a shovel and he would, he would, he would, he would not put off of each one. He would knock them all down. And um, you know, and I would protest and I would be all upset and I would say fine, but just no more. That's a minimum, which would be more than what he was comfortable with. Right. Okay. Okay. Okay. And then we would do it and it would work and it'd be perfect. It's like, thank God, you know, because if, if, if we would have done what I set out to do at first, you know, someone will be going to the hospital. Right. And if we were doing it like you, I mean, come on, why are we even doing it? Yeah. We might as well just ride around in circles. Right. Right. So I, that's, uh, you know, I think one day I'll write a book that it's all about dirt biking and life. Cause I think it's all related. There, you know, um, there's, well, it's all about, um, polarity kind of. Yeah. Um, and, and the thing I was thinking about mentioning just now is how likely how very similar you and I are and, um, Jill and Christy, and I'm going to gift you guys with, uh, the Hallows Relational Intelligence Test. Oh, yes. Yes. For being part of the podcast here. I'll give one for Christy, too. Oh, that'll be great. Um, and, uh, I won't get into it now, but definitely Jill and Christy are very similar in their desire to have things just so kind of, and me and you are very comfortable with not knowing how this is going to go. Right, right. Which is why we bought a box of blackberries. Our black box. Yeah, yeah, session today. Exactly. I know. Put, put that down. Yeah, about time to refill it. It probably will be soon. Um, so let's go. Let's jump in the time machine. Ready? All right, let's do it. Let's part that joint just quickly before we share the rest of it. It burned out. Um, so Chris Corbin, you are in. Going into kindergarten. What's the, what's the, what's the lay of the land? Oh man, going into kindergarten. Alright, I was, uh, I was born in Atlanta. Okay. You know, early, early 70s. You got like some remnants of a southern accent. Well man, it's, it's there. I mean, I can, I can turn it. I can hear it. I can turn that one off. It depends on whom I'm talking to. You know. Sir. But, uh, but no, um, Let's see, kindergarten, I'm living in Lithonia, Georgia, uh, just outside of Atlanta. Um, you know, would be considered a suburb of Atlanta. Um, and Now it is, especially then it was probably less so. It was, it was kind of right on the fringe, you know, and, um, in, in Atlanta and where I was at at that time too, um, you know, I was probably, um, you know, the demographics, you know, were, were probably, you know, half and half, you know, black and white, you mean black and white. Yeah. Okay. And, um, you know, it was, um, Parents were, you know, hippies. Okay. You know, I Were they from there? Uh, from Atlanta. Okay. Yeah. Um, from Atlanta. And, um, yeah, it was, it was a little, it was a little bit wild. Was there a lot of you? Or just you? Or how many kids? Myself and my sister. Okay. Yeah. Myself and my sister. And, um, yeah, here, I'll hit that. And, um, yeah, so as I was, as I was growing up, you know, I think, um, hippie households and then what did your parents do like for income? And were they, were they like lower middle class or like what was the financial situation? Did you know? Definitely, definitely lower class. Didn't have a whole lot of money. My mom got pregnant when she was 16. With you? With me. Okay. Yeah, had, had me just after turning 17, um, and her school wouldn't allow you to go to school. So she, she got kicked out of school. Yeah, she had to go get her GED. Here, that'll fix ya. Yeah. Expulsion. Yeah, exactly. Exactly, they didn't want the other kids to see it. I guess that's Bible Belt stuff, kinda. Oh, really? That's like a, yeah, I guess, kind of a, huh, that's wild, I've never heard about it. Yeah, so, um, yeah. Yeah. So, uh, that's kind of where I was. So, it was a young family. Um, my dad was a couple years older. You know, I think he was 20 when I was born. And, um, very, um, you know, very intelligent man. Uh, good with his hands. Wild at heart. you know, which, uh, you know, can lead to a world of pain if it's not managed properly, you know? So, and is that, that's pretty much, yeah, yeah, yeah. It was, it was, uh, it was, it was tough as, as a kid saw a lot of wild stuff. I was very much loved by my parents. Um, that's one thing that, uh, you know, and as Christie and I tell stories and different things, you know, I always felt unconditional love from both my parents. Um, Crazy stuff happened though, you know, but, um, you know, you want to share a sample story? You know, I think, you know, just moving around a lot, we didn't move around a lot, but there was some, you know, there was some domestic violence stuff going on and things like that. Father was an alcoholic. Um, And he was the main earner, probably, while your mom raised the kids? Well, that was it. Yeah, she, she, she went to school, learned to cut hair. Um, I remember, I remember going to the school with her when I was a little boy and like being, getting my hair cut and stuff like that. And that's really, uh, what she did, um, throughout most of, of, um, her career. So she was probably the consistent, uh, uh, Earning person and he would go here and there sometimes. Well, good money. Well, well, no, he always worked pretty consistently And things but you know that relationship fell apart So then she's a single mother, you know in the mid 70s living off with you know, you guys with you know Myself and my sister You know, so we're really always Um, you know, you know, economically, just, just kind of getting by, right? Barely above the poverty line. Yeah, yeah. But, you know, I think there was always a lot of pride. My mother never did any kind of food stamps or anything like that, you know, had a little bit of family support, but, but not really. So it was very much on her own. And we got free lunch as kids until I was in 10th grade. grade was the first year that my parents, yeah, they were transparent about it. They were like, this isn't really okay, but we need the help. Yeah, exactly. You know, exactly. You know, and, and, and I probably got some different views on it now. And I think for her then it was, it's very much a pride thing, you know, someone we would have qualified for all of that, um, as well, you know, we mostly, and, and, and, you know, we were clean. We were polite, we were, we were well spoken. And so in a modest place, I'm sure always. And yeah, it, it slowly got better. It got better over the years, you know, and, um, and their, their careers evolved and, you know, and she remarried and, and things like that. And, um, you know, and, and life got a little better, but by then I would, I was, I was hightelling it. You were, you were free range. I got out as quick as I could. Yeah. It's, you know, and I, what does that look like for you? Like how old were you and like what kind of a student were you? You know, I was a struggling student. I was, um, you know, I, I think I've probably always been a bit of a pleasure seeker, you know, but, um, but always creative and it didn't have enough of, of kind of, um, In school too much? Well, you know, I think, I think I was, um, I, I, school just didn't quite fit me, right? Like my son came here and, uh, he went to school here in town and, um, and, you know, there, there was a lot, there's a lot more options for him in this day and age and different things and alternative schools. Finding a place that actually did fit and stuff. And you can fit, you know, and, and get in and things like that. And, um, you know, I just didn't do real well being spoken to. And that's very much what school was, um, for me. And, you know, there wasn't a whole lot else. So I made it through, you know, I remember my, I was being very happy, you know, my mom just being happy because, you know, it's, um, you know, before that time, you know, she hadn't graduated from high school. My father hadn't graduated from high school. My grandfather, you know, quit school when he was 13, you know, Um, so it's not like, you know, we came from, you know, uh, a, a line of PhDs or anything like that, but, um, but figured out how to, how to do it, you know, and by the time my mom had, had reached the end of her life, you know, they were doing very well and, you know, we're kind of able to do whatever they wanted to do. And she had gone on and went from that to real estate and had a great career and, uh, actually ended up at Chick fil A, which I think was her, was her favorite job. It was kind of a slow and steady wins the race and had a. Ultimately a successful life. And it sounds like you have a lot of appreciation for your stepdad as well as having felt loved by your dad. Oh yeah. Yeah, absolutely. You know, I think I was, um, you know, it was, I, I, I feel fortunate very much so that my, um, you know, my, my parents spoke to me, um, when I was as an adult as much as they could. Yeah, yeah. My father spoke to me like I was a grown man. So when teachers talked to you like you were a child, you were like, well, screw off. I'm smart too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, so, so it was a little different. So, you know, you kind of knew the ways of the world and things like that. So what does getting out of the nest look like for you then? school. And then it's just, you know, I went on, I, uh, I've, I've always, you know, job wise, I've either been building something or selling something. It's just kind of always been what's, what's there. And, uh, I went in and I was going after a marketing degree and, and things that, uh, a small school, um, in Atlanta and, um, their program to transfer into UGA. Um, Uh, dissolved. Oh. At the end when I, like, they, they lost their recommendation with UGA or something. Yeah, yeah. And it was, so they, they were trying to, you know, switch to a university and things like that and whatever, so that, that transfer program went away. And, um, I was so upset about the whole thing. Um, I'd say screw it. So my books got some, you know, went to Colorado and learned to ski. Is that right? That was my first trip to Colorado. Yeah. And did you move here right away? Uh, I did for a season. I, I lived at Keystone. I was a housekeeper and did that till they kicked me out for having a, a jelly jar bong, you know, or something like that. And, um, I think paraphernalia. Yeah, right. I couldn't call it what it is. Well, you know, I couldn't stay in the cheap employee housing. I had to move out of that, but if I was willing to pay more for the, the you. Bigger employee housing. They would make an exception to my violation. I'm like, ah, I'm going to Texas with a buddy. So I jumped on a bus and went to Texas. Okay. Like Austin or I went to Austin, stayed in Austin for about a month. And my mom had, um, had told me, and actually now saying this, I know what my, my story at the end will be. Um, so, um, my mom had always told me when I kind of went out to venture out and find my way, um, cause she knew I was going to go out there and. Who knows what would happen. She just told me, I'll get you a bus ride home, not a plane ticket. I'm not going to come get you. I'm in for a bus ride home if you ever need it. So just know you can call at any time and I will have a bus ticket waiting on you. And, uh, I called and I said, mom, I was like, I need that bus ticket. Oh, wow. Yeah. So, and, uh, took off and, uh, went back to Atlanta and then that was just a series. So this is the, my third time living in Colorado. So it's my place. Well, um, I met some Alabama people, uh, the musicians that you were like, must have been a later trip to Atlanta. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. What was that band? Let's give them a shout out while we're thinking about it. Yeah, yeah, Eddie Ninevolt, Eddie Ninevolt, yeah, you guys should check them out, it's some real blues. And, uh, yeah, they, uh, those guys lived across the street from us, about the time when I told you I had that dirt bike track in my yard. By the way, I was a grown man. It may have sounded like I was a child, but I was a grown man on a child sized motorcycle. So, um, so my son and, and, and, uh, and, and those guys were friends and, uh, we're in a couple of bands together. Right, right. Eddie nine Volt. You check'em out. Yeah. They worked at the Armory here in Fort Collins, which doesn't book any bull. Yeah, man. You know, that's cool. Those guys rip. They, they, they, they did rip. They live it. I mean, listen, it's no joke. You know, they, you know, if they're singing a song about, you know, living in a trailer in South Georgia, it's caused, that's what they've done, you know, and, uh, and, and they feel it, and they play real stuff, so, yeah. Yeah. And you know, that's kind, any kind of music where anybody puts their soul into it, I, I can do it. You know? So you get home to Atlanta. And mom's there. Oh, no, no, I didn't go home. Yeah. I didn't go home to her. The bus ticket. You took her to a different place. No, I went, I went back to Atlanta. And again, when we come to the crazy stories, I'll bring you back. And if you'll ask me about it at the end, I'll tell you what happened when I actually got, did get back to Atlanta. But, um, I got back and we can do a couple of chapters ahead. If you want to, yeah, yeah. Uh, I went back and got to Atlanta and, you know, kind of told my friends about my experience in Colorado and what it was like, and kind of, that actually started this kind of exodus of people going out and adventuring and, and trying different places. A lot of them in Colorado. Well, I've listened, it's, you know, me, I'm, I'm, you know, my, um, one of my closest friends or selling something. Yeah. Yeah. My, you know, my, my closest friend calls me and I'm an adult bully and Um, you know, now Christie's Christie's picked up on it, you know, but I just try to help people, you know, recognize their fullest potential the same way, like, would you just stop persuading me? Like, I've already decided I'm not going to do it. But if you keep talking, I'm probably going to do it. Right? Right. Yeah. Yeah. So we have that, uh, similarity probably. Um, so go buy yourself some, uh, uh, what, what's the Apple way to get the 89 volt? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can they buy them on their website? Oh yeah. I'm sure if you check them out, you can, you can, you can. You won't be able to help but like them. You can find them online. I put them on my Apple, uh, library, like right away. Yeah, yeah, yeah, they, they, they kill it, you know, and, and that started, music kind of came into our family, you know, around that time with the kids. I, you know, I can, I can have a few beers. And where'd you find a woman along this way? Were you Oh yeah, as far as like coming back, yeah, coming back to Georgia, um, you know, had, had been someone I had met in high school and we just kept kind of reconnecting and actually happened, uh, got together with her and, and really kind of. Um, established our relationship not long after that. Right. So I go off for my adventure. I see Colorado and the Rockies and fall in love and, you know, go from skiing in a pair of jeans to, you know, really kind of ripping down the mountain and, and, and figuring out, you know, thinking I was ripping down the mountain, you know, so, right, right. But, um, but yeah, and then, and then going back to Georgia and, uh, you know, um, kind of starting to create a life and then, um, again, dreaming. Along the whole way, and um, but still just trying to do the right thing and, and fit into a mold, you know, to a degree and I'm finally done with the mold. Right, I like that. What was your last stop before, um, Fort Collins? So, uh, I think that's it for you, for your family. Yeah, we were, we were in Atlanta and um, had, had been in Atlanta, I think maybe about eight years or so. So when did you live in Southern Colorado? Didn't you live So, came in, so when my, when, when Jacob, you know, my, my oldest son was, uh, was born, uh, we moved to Alamosa. Oh, okay. When he was about a year old, yeah. And uh, we lived down there in the San Luis Valley and Interesting choice. How does one choose, like, there's got to be a story that leads up to moving to Alamosa. Yes, yes it did. Because my, my closest neighbors were each a mile away and the only person I saw on the way to work was the crop dusting plane. Right. You know, so that's, that's, and that's no exaggeration. Well, it's like a grid pattern in the middle of Uh, yeah, we rented a little place from, yeah, it had beautiful views and, and, and things like that. And, you know, 10 million mosquitoes, was it just about fulfilling a dream to get back to Colorado? You said your wife had some kind of an opportunity there. Well, her, her father actually got a job at Adams State College, so they were there. So again, we had a brand new baby and so that was kind of a, a safe jump. The, the moment I, I left Colorado, I was trying to figure out how to get back. Right. You're like, well, it's not Fort Collins or Denver. Well, I didn't, I didn't know. I didn't know any of the mountains. That's all you really do. All I knew was what it was like to look up and see the green, the blue and the white. This is before the internet kind of, right? Like, um, I didn't know the difference between Fort Collins and Fort Morgan. Oh, I would have had no idea what I got passed over for a job in Fort Collins, and then I was going to be booking a flight to Fort Morgan or travel accommodations or whatever. And then, um, the guy from Fort Collins called back and said, Hey, the guy didn't accept the job that we offered him. Yeah. We're premature. Do you still want it? I moved to Fort Collins sight unseen. Right. And I knew nothing different. Like at the time. And so probably Alamosa meant nothing to you except for it was part of Colorado. Listen, I, I had no idea where I was going. You know, I didn't even really know that that type of Colorado existed, you know, um, that was All you'd seen was mountains and ski slopes and stuff before that. Listen, it was, uh, it's a beautiful place and I actually love the dunes down there. And it's, uh, you know, if you ever, I love the people down there, you know, for the most part, listen, we were just through there coming back from, uh, from a trip from Arizona and, um, Alamosas. got a little bit going on like, yeah, I listen, being a guy from Georgia, they had a legit barbecue place. So again, I'm terrible with the names, but if you're in Alamosa, they got for the legit barbecue place. They got a legit barbecue place. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, so, you know, so ended up, uh, it's a different choice, right? Like it's not for, you know, Me or you necessarily, but for some people, that's just the kind of place they want to be. Yeah. Yeah. You know, in the, in the school and everything around there, but it's, you know, it can be 110 degrees. It can also be negative 30. It, it fights with some terrible place in Minnesota for being the coldest spot in the world. No, the country or something, but it's, uh, it's a brutal place. Uh, you're probably going to see some UFOs and it's incredibly beautiful. Um, there's some funky stuff that happens out there, man. I, I did not, uh, my wife worked at, um, at the time. Um, um, Forbes, um, had a big Buffalo ranch out there and everything like that. Right. And they had a little restaurant Zapata. Uh, it's a pot of ranch there and, uh, she worked there and from where we lived, it was like 25 miles on a straight road. You hang a left for three miles and that's where we are. Right. So, I mean, and you can see the other, she, she's totally, yeah, she's had her telescope. You could literally watch your wife drive to work. Exactly. Exactly. So, so she, she's coming home, you know, the restaurants closed and, uh, you know, one in the morning. You listen, somebody's headed towards you, you know, at 20 minutes before they get to you and suddenly, um, you know, something's, you know, light shining from behind, everything around her is lit up. She speeds up to, you know, over a hundred and she starts getting scared and lets off of the gas. Luckily, the light shuts off and just is gone. Gone. Right. So sounds crazy. And this is your wife. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Not Christie first, first wife, you know, and this probably would have been, you know, late nineties or something with you saying that story. Oh yeah. Yeah. It scared her to death. Yeah. I'm sure she would, um, uh, repeat the same story. Yeah, it was, um, but it was, it's, it's, it's, there's some crazy stuff going on down there. So we stayed in Alamosa about three months. We got out of there. We went up and I visited a buddy that was in winter park and I was like, Okay. And I'm looking at the job listings and the class and listen immediately. Immediately. And that's exactly what I did. I picked up the paper and, and I did the same thing as we got to Alamosa. You know, we typically had, you know. Very little money with it, you know, hundreds of dollars, not thousands. Right, right. And, um, because we were a young family. And you got three kids? Jacob was the last? Oh, Jacob was just born. Yeah. So the others weren't there yet. Yeah, yeah. Jacob, Jacob was just born. And, um, Yeah, so we kind of made our way and and got a job in Winter Park and started building log and timber frame homes and oh The the winters were rough there, too And you know my sister had moved to Arizona and the internet had just become a thing and we looked at a couple of pictures of What an apartment complex, you know in Arizona looked like and saw some greenery and things like that And I think that's good enough for me. Well, yeah, she she had had enough and and and I knew you know It wasn't a happy place for her. Did you never really come to the front range of Colorado? Um, or barely only when we had to yeah, I did not like it Yeah, did not like it immediately turned back and went to the mountains as quick as I could and And, um, but yeah, I think quite a transition to go to Arizona after well, we had, you know, we, we knew she was ready to get out of the mountains. She had had enough Colorado. Um, we had 700. It was 1, 000 to, to get the rental truck to go back to Atlanta. Um, it was like three or four hundred dollars to get to Arizona where my sister was. Yeah, yeah. And that would leave us with an extra three hundred dollars left over. So, she took off with, uh, Jacob went to Arizona. Got a job leasing apartments. Well, um, you know, like within the first week or two and we, uh, yeah. And then I packed up and went to Arizona and got a job as an installer. And, you know, led me to what became my career and all these years later. Yeah. Yeah. Installer of what, um, millwork fixtures. Okay. Um, so we're going in, um, you know, I had, um, it's already cut to size kind of, and then, uh, no, well, no, at, at that time, like we were, I, I got stuck building out, like, how did you learn how to. Listen, you know, to, to be completely honest with you and I've told my kids, uh, this as well, and Christie, you know, as we go in and venture out on some of these projects, cause I get that question a lot, how did you know how to do that? And, um, most of the time I don't, and if you ever stick with what, you know, you're not going to get real far, man, where you're going to be stuck in the same room. So I've, I've always gone, well, I had just enough, right. But you know how to do a mitered. The joint is like, that stays the same, but 90 degrees isn't always 90 degrees. When I got my job as a carpenter, I, I knew what that was, but I didn't know how to necessarily know how to do it. And I certainly didn't know how to do it well. And you had no formal training, you know, I had no, you know, my, my dad was a builder. So on the weekends when we would go to stay with him and he had to work. We would work. There was a very short time I may have worked with him, um, a little bit over a couple summers. I, um, did some tile with my granddad, but I think, you know, some people, you know, just kind of have an innate ability. It makes sense. Part of the reason, probably why I like riding motorcycles. It's just a mind hand connection. Yep, yep. And, um, really, I wasn't, I was a terrible carpenter. Um, to be honest with you, um, you know, the, the, the people that, that, that, that hire us now because, um, you know, would not want to hear that. And, but I wasn't a very good carpenter, but I was, um, I was, I was driven to become a better carpenter. I always wanted to learn something. And, um, so every day I just tried to learn and tried to do a little better, but I was also a good salesperson. Right. Right. Uh, I kept my workspace clean. I showed up on time, you know, I did all these other things that. Aren't carpentry, but really are part of, of, of selling yourself. And the truth is every single person is out there selling yourself. You're either selling, selling hard, or you're not selling real hard at all. You know, but no, you are selling yourself every day. When, uh, when I moved from, uh, from. Windsor, Colorado, bank of Colorado, uh, with Tom Pranger as the president there. And I moved to Colorado Springs. Bank of Colorado had acquired a few banks. Um, Tom Pranger, if he hears this, good bless you. Um, but he said, when we were leaving at the Golden Way party, he's like, well, Kurt, you're, you know, you're pretty fresh. You don't really know what you're doing yet, but you show up, you work hard and everybody around here really likes you. And so we're going to miss that. Yeah. You know, and that was like every place I worked kind of a little bit. Everybody just, it was just a little bit better six months after I'd been there. I think that's part of our similarity in things. Exactly, you know, and I think you find your way, you know, and in saying that, you know, know that I'd, I'd never have jumped blindly. I don't do that. I probably take a little more risks than the normal person does, but you know, whether it's my play or whatever it is, um, I'm pretty strategic about it and I think about it. So it is loose and fast, uh, to a certain degree, but that's typically at the end. Like it's, you know, trying to work toward good ends, it doesn't, you know, if you're working toward good things. Kind of the style of work matters a lot less. Yeah. And you, you know, with, with the carpentry and things like that, um, I just kept at it and I just had a good work ethic and then I found a good teacher. Right. A good mentor. When we want to mention. Yeah. Uh, you know, I. Couldn't, couldn't, couldn't tell you his name. Um, you know, yeah, I, I see him. He was from Arkansas. He had been a logger and, um, it was when we were in winter park, we were building a home, um, towards Grand Lake and, uh, came in there and, um, He went from kind of what I was trying to do before, which I was building, you know, or working on, you know, 20, 000 square foot houses in Atlanta and, and, and really trying to do this really difficult things and, and things like that. You, you learn very quickly what you're good at and what you can and can't do. And, uh, but when I got there, he just took the time with me and I remember I was going in and, and. I had to do this mirror and he said, listen, I don't care how long it takes. I want it to look like it grew there, right? And that was it. And he, and he walked away. And, and that was really it. And then, um, and then, so that really taught me a lot about detail and, and also he, he allowed me the flexibility and the opportunity to think through the things that I was doing and to make mistakes. And that's one things that, that I do in my guts. Artisanal and artists touch to some of your projects, uh, even if it's not spec, that kind of thing. Oh, listen, the stuff that we do is, you know, I mean, some of the stuff where, you know, we're throwing up some metal shelves and things like that. But. But most of it is it's, it's, it's difficult stuff to do. It's meant to be, it's a little bit more, it's, it's very high end. It's not like if you're going to a home and you know, and you're doing some stuff that someone's going to come through and paint later, um, this is something that you're doing that has to look perfect. It's already prefinished. Don't let anyone know that it's ever been cut or nailed or glued or anything like that. And, By the way, you've got to be done tomorrow. So that's the world that I live in most of the time, which is why I want to go out and find, you know, let's find something else for this next chapter in life, you know, that, um, that's, uh, you know, I have a good time with everything I do, but, you know. I'd like to relax a little bit more and still make a living. Yeah, yeah, fair enough. Well, you've got a pretty sharp mind, and so I won't be surprised if you do that. Yeah, yeah. Um, should we call a short break, and then we can come back and talk some more stuff? Yeah. And we're back. Um, the sky is really amazing out there. Yeah, it's, it's beautiful. It's that Colorado blue sky, right? Uh, but with some fun, like. clouds behind ahead of sun, you know, through stuff going on. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, we were outside there for a moment and I found myself just staring at the clouds, watching them float by for a moment for sure. Um, so we're going to enter into our faith, family and politics segments and they can be taken in any order, uh, but are all mandatory. Oh my gosh. Okay. Yeah. Uh, do you have a, an order in mind that you'd like to address them? No, you pick, you pick, man. Yeah. You pick the flow. Well, let's talk about your family more. Um, so, what is this Brady Bunch? Uh, can we, uh, cause Christy's got three? Yeah, yeah, no, no, no. Four? Christy's, yeah, Christy's got She's got four? Christy's got five kids. Five! Sorry. Christy's got five, I've got three. I usually know mostly who matches with who. Yeah. I don't keep track. All in, all in, uh. various phases of life, all adults, um, all amazing people. And, um, you know, for, for us, it's, uh, it's just great kind of being able to be there and, and be present for them all and try to, um, each of them around. Yeah. You know, every month, probably most of them are around once or twice at least. Yeah. Yeah. We, you know, and of course we have, we have kind of a crazy life and, um, you know, just because of our business. Right. When you're gone for two months and then you're, when you're back, then they're like, Hey, let's go visit them or have a little party or whatever. Yeah. Yeah. And you know, in my kids, that was always kind of part of my career. So, you know, the travel and dads in different city didn't, didn't mean. too much, you know, for Christy and her family. That's kind of a different thing, you know, to, to have mom in Manhattan, you know, for, for three months. And you know why it's, it's great to go visit. You're only there for, you know, a week or two or something like that. First time your mom's cross country. So, um, let's start with, can we start with, uh, Are you comfortable doing the, the, the one word description test with all the kids of the merged family? I'll, I'll, I'll, oh, oh my gosh. Or just yours? Yeah, you know, I think I'll stick with my kids. It seems pretty trepidatious to try to Yeah, I'll stick with, I'll stick with my kids. Um, you know, and Let's name, let's name your, your I imagine you didn't adopt them because they're all adults before. Yeah, no, uh, no, no, no adoptions, which I absolutely love and, uh, appreciate anybody that's out there that can do that. And I, and I actually, Christy and I kid around, you know, I'm probably half kidding. You know, I don't actually, you know, we, we might need to, might need to scratch that. I don't want to, I don't want any more kids. Um, I'll wait to be a granddad to come along and stuff like that. But, uh, my kids are, uh, Jacob, Chloe, and Dawson. Okay. Um, One word description for Jacob. Oh my gosh Jacob's a man You know, uh, and, and, and when I, when I say that, um, for me, you know, what that means and Christie and I talk about this sometimes, um, being from the South and, and, and, and living in Colorado. And, and it is different, you know, when you grow up in different regions of the country, Midwest or whatever it is, you know, different things, you know? So when I say that for Jacob, you know, being a man is, um, is being, you know, um, polite, uh, you know, being there, um, you know, taking care of the people that are around him, um, being kind, being smart and trying to be the best person that he can be. He is married. Yeah. Yeah. Married Casey. They live here in town. So that's, uh, it's a great thing. She works, um, you know, You know, a lot of nonprofits and, uh, works with Loveland at one of the shelters. And again, one of those people out there that, um, you know, find some, uh, some meaning in their work and in important things out there. So yeah, they're kind of going after it and he's out there, you know, kind of, um, taking the lumps out there in the field and it's a whole lot easier standing. Uh, next to your son on those tough days. I bet it is. I bet it is. Um, what would he say about you, if I was, if you were strapped into this chair? Oh my gosh, you know, I, you know, it's, it's funny because it's a, you know, I feel like that's maybe a conversation that I would love to have with him. Yeah, you know, in each of my kids, you know, as you, you know, again, you, you hit different phases in your life, 50, you know, you really do start to reflect and you feel like you are kind of on the other side of whatever it is. And when it's Christie and I have vowed to go to 110, you know, after that, I'm not sure about the quality of life, but we're going to give it a shot. So we got a long way to go, but you know, I would, um, you know, I would love to hear that. You know, what, what the answer is to that. Well, he wouldn't be hanging around schlepping these projects with you guys if he didn't, uh, You know, Have quite a bit of appreciation, I think. Yeah, you know, I think so. And, um, I, um, I've, I've always, um, allowed my, my children to be accountable to the world. Right. So I've, I've done things to, to help them and, you know, or felt or tried, felt like, you know, this is my perception of what I did for them. What, you know, their views of, of their life is their own. Yeah. Yeah. You see every, everyone sees it different, you know? And how about, uh, Chloe is your. Yeah. Chloe's my daughter. And how old is Jacob now? Yes. Oh my gosh. Jacob has got to be, um, Oh my gosh, you're putting me on the spot here now. What year was he born? Yeah, he was born in 95. So he's, uh, You're doing the math for me on this one. So he's like 29? Yeah, 28. Yeah, I think he'll be 29 this Christmas. But, uh, you know, and, uh, Close born in 2000 and Dawson in 2001. And so it's, it's funny you say that because listen, if you ask me, you know, who the, who the band members are or my kids birthdays, you know, things like that, I forget those things sometimes, but you know, I was standing in line once with my kids, I will never forget it. I was signing them up for baseball and softball and all at the same time. Right. And they're there, there's a lot of commotion, their parents everywhere. You got to put their birthday, trying to get this. Great, great, crazy strategy of getting them on the best rec team, whatever in the world that is. And, you know, trying to, or just a good one that they can, is a good team for them. And I'm doing all that. And I did something and I leaned over to like my youngest son and I, or my oldest and asked about the youngest son's birthday or something. My daughter overheard, listen, they were no secret. She was like, Oh, dad doesn't even know Dawson's birthday, you know, and all of this. You know, so I'm, I'm terrible with that stuff, but hopefully they know that I love them regardless of whether or not I can cut off their ages. And I haven't, I meant to call her earlier and I haven't. Kurt, this is your chance, man. Donna, when you listen to this podcast episode, know that I was thinking about you several times today and I'll call you on the way home. Yeah. There you go. I love that. Happy birthday. Maybe we should call her right now. We could make a part of this cut. Now that seems like that would be all about me and Donna. That seems silly. Um, let's talk about, uh, Chloe. Chloe. Yes. So Chloe is, um, your one word. Hmm. I want it, I'm gonna say driven, and she's, she's, she's driven by her dreams, you know. We have a hyphen, so you can say, uh, dream driven. Yeah, yeah. Which means that she's got her, at least she's the apple of her father's eye, probably, because he's a little bit like that. Well, you know what, and, and, and not intentional, you know, Chloe was, um, incredible student always, um, you know, wanted to get 110, right? A hundred wasn't really, yeah. She, and she just, she loved that, loved, loved that piece of it and things like that. And so, you know, I kind of imagined her, you know, going on and also very calm under pressures. I'm like, this girl's incredible. She's going to go be a doctor or whatever it is that she's going to do. And, you know, she made this transition when we came here and, uh, and is. It's beautiful to see allowing your kids to kind of become who they are. We came to Colorado and I'm going to, to school here, which is very different from where we were going. She was going to school in Atlanta, which was very restrictive. Suddenly, you know, we're in a school that has a whole lot more resources than what, um, what were available in the state of Georgia. And I think Colorado and, um, and all kinds of programs and Shaw kids being able to be who they are. And, um, so she just, She's realized that, you know, she also has this incredible creative side to her. So she's gone out and, um, is, uh, is an artist and, um, does these incredible, you know, prints, uh, these reverse kind of carvings. I'm, I'm, I don't even know how to, how to describe it properly, but really beautiful and, and music and she's releasing, um, she's got a couple albums that are going to be coming out and acoustic and a full band here in town. And she works at different. Really cool cafe, coffee shops. Well, she works at time. Like I see her there. She's at silver grill. Yeah. She's a girl for a while. She's a, she's a favorite at silver grill. Yeah. She really does. She was at a different place before that too. She Lima coffee. Uh, she's, she's bounced around. She, she was over at, um, Um, uh, and ginger baker for a while and she got a, uh, a pastry degree and, um, a certificate and things like that. And well, that's what an artist does. Like she's exploring, like, I love that, you know, she's about to take off and she's getting ready to go to France for three months and she's doing an acting program there for, for three months. But you know, the, the driven piece of it. You know, with Chloe and it goes back, it's ironic that she's going to, uh, to, um, Paris, but we, uh, we did a trip to France and we're very fortunate enough, um, to have some great, uh, grandparents that took us along and, and on this trip. And we were there and we were at the Eiffel tower and we were so tired. We were, so this was like the very, she was probably 10, 11, something like that. And we were exhausted and everyone had already slept. started, you know, all the Parisians are on the lawn with their line, their wine and their joints. And they're waiting for the sunset and the, the tower to light up and all of that. And, um, we're like, look, let's just sit. And everybody was just fine sitting. And she was like, she stood in front of us and said, listen, there is no way. That's the Eiffel Tower. We are, we are in Paris. We're here. We're going, get up. We're going to the top. And at that point I was like, okay, I knew then she's going to be fine. She's going to go and yeah, and make her way. And, and, um, it'll probably be a pretty special journey. Yeah. Yeah. And, um, and just a happy person along, along the way. Well, and, uh, Dawson, uh, I've had the opportunity to Seeing him, you know, become a man. Yeah. Yeah. And if that's not your one word and Dawson, you know, um, you know, it's so funny because, you know, you know, it's great. I feel this, this beautiful connection with all my kids and I can see a reflection of myself and them and, and different things. And, uh, Dawson just kind of looked like me, you know, and, and very much has a lot of my, my personality and, um, and things like that. And, um, let's see one word for Dawson. Oh, man. Um, heart. He, the boy leads with his heart. I like it. Uh, which is, which is great. And dangerous too sometimes. Very dangerous, very dangerous. And, um, of all my children, Dawson has the most wounds, if you will, from life. And, um, and those, most of them I saw coming Uh, uh, right. You had to let him figure it out. Hey, listen, he's not gonna listen to me anyway, man. Um, you know, there was no one. But then you can't say I told you so. Well, it doesn't mean, listen, it doesn't mean that I don't say something. Right, right. Um, you know, and um, for any young parents out there, you know, you gotta have some street cred with your kids. You know, and, um, you don't get that by, um, by just making up some stuff or talking to them about something that they don't know, um, talk to them about something that applies to their world that they will see happen in there or be a part of their, their world, but then sometime within the next six months, right? Yeah. Yeah. Cause now all of a sudden you see the future, right? And things like that. So, so really with, with Dawson, the best thing that I could do. And, and I did this with all my children as well. It's just kind of say, Hey, this is kind of what I see coming down the road, man. Where are you headed? Because the reality is, um, we all have our own mind at our own age. We're controlled by, by different things throughout our life, but we're all independent thinkers and, um, you have to respect that individuals and let them be who they are, um, whether it hurts them or, um, leads them to a place of happiness, you know, and you try and guide them. And hopefully learn from, you know, I, I tell them about all my screw ups and that's about, Hey, listen, that's really, that's all I have. I can tell you about all this stuff I screwed up. You've seen what has worked, you know, most of the screw ups you probably don't know about, you know, fair enough. Oh, let's, can we talk more about Christy? Oh my God. How did you guys connect? Was it a match. com or, uh, Christy is, thanks Zoosk. Zoosk? Yeah. Yeah. We la, we laugh about that. What is Zoosk? I've never heard of it. Is it, is it a dating app? Zoosk, Zoosk is the app that you end up on when you've kind of gone through all the others and you're like, oh my God, please just let there be a person for me out there somewhere. And I gotten on there and, um, listen to all you ladies out there on road construction. I appreciate it. And I'm glad you're out there holding those signs and stuff like that. But I had a lot of road workers hitting me up and stuff like that and some crazy things. And that's just not who I am. You know, I'm a very forward person when it comes to, you know, talking about fun stuff or, or getting, you know, business and things like that. You know, when it came to, to love, I'm, I'm very reserved and very shy and, um, you know, and yeah, yeah, well, you're a pretty handsome guy. I hate to say it. Listen, you're kind of intimidating that way. I'm younger than you, but you're definitely more handsome. That's probably just enough to draw someone towards me and me not know what to say. You know, it's kind of like when you and I first started this interview, suddenly I did not know, um, what it was that I did for a living. As strange as that is, you know, I mean, and you're not even that cute, you know, no, I'm kidding, Jill. He's a good, he's a good looking man. You did good, Jill. She punched him over weight limit. No, not really. She was looking for the bank or the sugar daddy. Right. She lost that. Yeah, yeah. Listen, we all have tough life lessons we learned. Yeah, for sure. Well, I wouldn't be here if I hadn't been there. Yeah. But, um, no, you know, Christy, um, we were both, um, kind of, you know, thank, thankfully for me. Looking recent wounds from divorce, basically, or is that not true? Well, no, that was really me, and I was really kind of, um, recent through the healing of it all, you know, and, um, you know, my divorce took quite a while, and I, I went through all the crazy, um, Emotions that are involved with fights over the kids and different things. Oh, all, all, all this stuff, all this stuff. And, um, you know, had really just. And somehow in that, you know, had realized that I need, you know, I'm okay. I'm a good person. I'm doing the very best I can every day. And once I did that, that was kind of a game changer for me because we all screw up. We all come a little short. You know, you can, anyone can look back at the end of the day and say, you know what? I could have done better. Being self critical is like the most, It's a damaging thing. Yeah. Yeah. And, and listen, and I do that same thing and it's, it's, it's, it's a tough struggle, you know, at different times. And, um, but we, you know, we had both kind of gone through the, the, the whole thing Christy had done. Who was it on her in the, uh, uh, you said it was lady construction workers that were your, uh, you know, well, well, well, and, and, and she'll tell you and Christy, you know, she had been done with her divorce for much longer and had gone through, um, uh, and she was a single mom for a. It's been quite a while. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And she had her hands full and really remarkable and, um, all, all the single moms that are out there, um, really getting it done. It's like everyone, it's, it's, it's an incredible feat. You know, women weren't meant and families weren't meant to just have one or two adults, you know, you, you shouldn't be outnumbered by your kids, you know, but, um, but not that degree. Yeah. Yeah. It's still 8 2. Yeah, they got us, but we got it figured out now, though. But it takes a long time. But it'd be a whole lot, uh, you know. Families should gather around one another, you know. It's something that we don't do enough. And we can talk about that kind of in the next piece of it, too. So was it love at first sight for you? Yes. For her, more? No, no. She took a little pursuing. It doesn't, it doesn't even sound real. It probably, um, does sound like a fairy tale, but you know, we both, I had literally decided that, um, I was going to try one more. I saw, I saw her picture. Oh my gosh. Her, her smile was so damn cute, man. I, and I, I just couldn't, I kept going back and looking at her picture over again, I'm like, you know, that's a good human being right there. And, um, I think her, Oh, you'd sworn off it. Yeah, I was, well, I was at my end. I was like, I was like. I was, I was literally getting ready to, to cancel my, my 12. I was like, listen, you've got my, the last 12 bucks you're getting from me. And you were just going to be single for a while. Uh, yeah, it wasn't. Well, you know, and again, you know, if you're able to be happy alone and happy with who you are at a person as a person and you'd gotten there. Yeah. And, and that makes you a lot more attractive. Uh, and for, to me, a woman that knows that she can take care of her darn self well and listen, is super attractive too. And, and we were, and we were both looking for that. Wants me, doesn't need me. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And that's exactly what it was. You know, Christy had a, a very different path and what I'd had, but had done a lot of the, the same work and really come to the place where, you know, she was happy with who she was. Yeah. Yeah. You know, but also like me, you know, as a romantic and believe that, you know, that love should be something that should be shared. And, um, yeah, that's it. That's exactly what happened. That's cool. And, um, you know, we, we talked for about a month and, um, we met at a dog park. And um, Oh yeah, cause you were up in Fort Collins. She was down in Denver. Yeah. Yeah. We met at a place close to her and she brought Charlotte along, my, which is my baby dog now. And, um, I, I told her about my little dog, Katie, and you know, a little bit about Katie. Sure, sure. Katie was a bitch, literally and figuratively. No, I didn't because Katie was a little runner. She was a little, um, she was a wonderful little dog, but if she knew that I was uncomfortable and wanted to leave, she absolutely would not let me catch her. So I showed up for a date at the dog park without my dog. Um, so, you know, so I'm sick. I'm on my tailgate and I'm like, okay, I'm kind of got my plan for what I'm going to say about my dog, not being there and stuff like that, which was, I was just going to tell her the truth, you know, which I thought was funny as I was driving down a little more. And, um, you know, she drove by and I remember sitting on the tailgate and watching her look at me when she drove by and I started smiling. She parked her car and never broke eye contact with me and opened her door and ran like 25 yards to me and met me in the middle of the road. Oh, right. Cause you've been talking on the phone for a month. We've been talking for about a month and just laid this kiss on me. And, you know, um, at that moment it was, it was on in our first date lasted seven hours. And, uh, yeah, we, our forearms were sunburned and. Yeah. And Charlotte was, that's not like a sexual in you. I know this was, cause you were hanging on the door, you know? Well, we, we, we're in the dog park for seven hours. Well, yeah, we, well, we were talking to someone today about that and they're like, Oh my God, you held hands on the first date. I'm like, well, listen, it was seven hours long. That's, you know, most dates are a couple hours, you know, at most first dates can be 15 minutes, an hour, you know, something like that. And, um, but we just knew right away. Um, Yeah. And the more we talked, and the more we laughed, and the more we loved, you know. And a few months, uh, later, then she take a big leap and moved to Fort Collins? Or was it, how long? Listen, you know, bless her heart and, you know, she, she has trusted me and, and believed in me, uh, and as a person. Um, From the very beginning, you know, um, the reality of what my world was at that, at that time and, and things like that. Um, you were like living in a van down by the river, not quite. Yeah, not, not quite there, not quite there. You know, there was a very short period I didn't have a place to live. For about two weeks, three weeks or something like that. No big deal though. Really? I mean, I figured it out. Yeah, I figured it out. And, um, but you know, um, but she wasn't marrying you for security. No, no. She, she, she had all this history of traveling around the country and doing different projects and you know, somehow, you know, it difficult. And, you know, and, and there's a lot, a lot, a lot of other things that can come at people in life and, and different things that I had going on at a bunch of different levels. So, you know, I, I, I had been wounded and hurt and, and struggled in a lot of different ways. And, um, you know, Christie and I came together in a, in a, in a place, you know, and, and she, what she did know about my world, um, And then the way that she saw me, um, gave her the confidence to believe in me, which is very much the same way that guys kept paying me when I really wasn't that good of a carpenter. They believed that I was, well, but you could be, and they believed in me, right. As a person, no matter what, I know this person's going to give me the best that they can, whatever that is. Well, and that's why you can Excel as the person. Project manager the general manager of this project, right? You don't have to be the perfectionist on the job You just have to see it perfection when you see it. Yeah. Yeah, but you probably got good at it, too Like I know your work. I've seen your work in the meantime even around your home like it's beautiful. I appreciate that well, and it's and You just, again, it's one of those things, Kurt, so many of those things I've never done before. Um, but you just, you kind of know what it's supposed to look like when it's done. One of these days. And to sit and stop and to just take a moment to think about it. Right. And to think and to look at something and then listen, whether we're talking about a piece of wood or a relationship, you stop and you look at it and you look at what's around it. What are all the things that are around this? This one little corner where these two pieces of wood come together. Yeah, yeah. Where is the eye moving to? What are they going to see? What else is around there? What's the best way if you are going to have a flaw? Because everything's flawed. Sure. Somewhere. Yeah, yeah. So there's going to be a flaw. So where are you going to put your flaw? Well, it's been a beautiful collision for you guys. In my mind. For you and Christy and all these. You know, teenagers plus, uh, you know, early adults, we, we still, we still go through and are still evolving. And of course, now we're in this next phase of life and, and things like that. And, um, as we're looking at our kids are all, you know, going out and doing their own things, but, um, you know, the, The incredible thing, you know, about her is it's just, we talk about it all the time. It's easy. Yeah. It's just easy, you know, and it's easy because we were, we were honest with ourselves first and then been honest with one another. And we play and we play and we play. You can't let play overtake work. You know, you play hard, work harder, relax better. Yeah. Yeah. I like it. Um, Let's see, faith or politics? I guess you said I should pick the order, so let's talk about faith. Um, I think I remember you said you came from a kind of semi Catholic background? Is that you or is that Christy? Yeah, no, no, that was me. Okay. That was me, so. We haven't talked about faith too much in our, you know, neighborly, neighbor fence relationship. No, no, we haven't, yeah. Uh, haven't really talked about it too much. Yeah, you know, I grew up my, uh, Yeah. grandparents, very, very Catholic, um, you know, um, um, Italian and French from New Orleans. Um, uh, a lot of that. And, um, it was, it was always important, you know, um, being able to, um, you know, all the big markers as far as like, Yeah. Yeah. The catechism and all the different things that everybody showed up, like every part of the family tree showed up for the baptism of the babies and whatever we were, we were all, we were all baptized and, you know, and different things. So I had some of that and, you know, we did my, you know, again, I had, I had a teenage mother and, um, you know, kind of a Baptist, like you were Catholics in Baptist territory or was there. Yeah, well, you know, man, there's Catholics everywhere. Well, listen, you're, you're in the Bible belt and, and, you know, when you're, when you're in Atlanta, there's a lot of Baptists, uh, around for sure, you know, and, um, But there's still diversity, there's Methodists down there and different things, uh, Presbyterians. George, George's, uh, It's a melting pot, you know, in, in reality, you know, and it's kind of off the radar and, you know, kind of where it is, you know, people have these stereotypes associated with it. I feel like the Baptists have dominant, have dominant position, but it's not like that. No, no, no, no. There's a little bit. I've never spent any time down there, which I'm inclined to. Yeah. declaring with my commentary right now. Yeah. Yeah. There's a, there's a little bit of everything going on, but you know, I was, I was exposed to, um, you know, the Catholic faith and, and that's what he had and, you know, the, uh, the kids that went to the, the Baptist church, you know, that had the huge camps and all this stuff and, you know, and, and, uh. Cause you're in public school with these other kids. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, so that was, you know, they're having all the great, great, you know, summer parties and all the great things and stuff like that. And here I am, you know, 45 minutes of kneeling and standing and praying and all this stuff and it's not funny, but it is, oh no, no, it is. It is recognized early. Yeah, it looks like the fun church over there. Yeah. And, um, but you know, um, It, you know, most of the time it seems like, you know, there was an Irish priest. So their, their accents, you know, a lot of times, um, we're just entertaining to me. So, you know, I, I, I did it, I went through it. I do remember a, um, a moment. I will never forget it standing in the living room and me and my little sister, it's probably me leading my little sister because she, she, she's got a very strong religious faith, but I was standing there and saying, Hey, we're not so sure about God. And my mom just thinking, Oh, what, what have I done? You know, here I am now. I've, I've, I've failed at God, you know, and all this stuff. And really we were just kind of searching and looking for answers and things like that. And, um, well, she found hers. Yeah. What do you do with God? Yeah. And, and, and, and, and my mom, you know, and, and she had her faith. And my sister kind of Followed very much kind of what she did. And, um, for me, you know, I, I had, I had, you know, kind of the, the structure of the, the Catholic religion, you know, that was there and just never really resonated with me. Um, it wasn't, um, It was never, um, you know, a question of truly whether or not there was a God or, or, or things like that. It was just, is this religion, right? Is this what I'm interested in, you know? And, and I did come from, you know, early on, you know, this, this kind of, uh, hippie kind of, of background and things like that. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So, you know, it's So they were already Like what was your parents like, you know, my mom went, even when we were young, I do remember going to church as a, as a young boy. But the best thing I remember is after church, I got to go ice skating. So we would go to the Omni in Atlanta and go ice skating. So I don't really know what happened at church. Um, but I remember, I remember spending those afternoons with my mom and watching her smile why I skated just as fast as I could. And, um, You know, take that, that full circle, you know, years later, really, um, no, no dedication to religion or a church or anything like that, you know, kind of a wild boy, um, running out and doing my thing and then, you know, having my own family. And then now it's kind of taking care of those things. And, um, even that, you know, uh, you know, my wife at the time, you know, church wasn't a thing for her family. They were very, you know, um, from the other side of, you know, of that, it was never any religious influence there. So it never really was, was part of our world until a time when, um, When really we were kind of embarking on our divorce, um, you know, had had some, some really difficult things happen. Um, you know, personally as well, you know, with my wife and mother and grandparents and all these different things and just the world, you know, come, come, can come down on you at different times. And, uh, and so this happens and right about the time as this is all starting to happen, I've got a very good friend of mine, a good friend of mine, Jason Fowler. And, um, he reached out to me and you should, you should check him out as well. He's a, uh, Christian musician and incredible. I know a guy named Jason Fowler. Jill and I went to our first date at his wedding, but I'm guessing it's a different Jason Fowler, different guy. I'm sure. And, and, and an amazing story in his own right. Um, it wasn't really our first date, but kind of almost anyway. Yeah. Yeah. Beautiful, beautiful human being, but, um, love him to death. Love him. One of those people you meet and he's a brother just instantly, you know, and, um, he calls me and he says, Hey, Chris, you know, getting ready to, um, launch this, you know, new church. And, um, Um, you know, I'm going to be the music director or whatever. And, um, we've got, this guy is going to come and speak and it's going to be at this theater and little five points and little five points. Um, when, you know, my parents were, were teenagers, it was where all the hippies were when I was a teenager, it's where all the skinheads and the punk rock people were and stuff like that. So very edgy part of town. Okay. Um, yeah. So he tells me that he's going to go and he's going to, you know, launch this church. Yeah. Right there in this theater. And it's a theater that's, you know, can, can some, you know, have some rowdy parties. It's got a bar and a coffee shop out in front, but it's going to be in this theater and in the heart of, um, you know, and I remember telling my wife as Atlanta, this is in Atlanta. Yeah. A little five points in Atlanta. And, uh, tell my wife, Hey, Jason just called. Um, You know, I don't really know, but I mean, he said he's going to play some Pearl Jam at church and they're going to be doing church and little five points. And we went and we, we went and, uh, it was my family and the pastor that was speaking and his family and, uh, maybe, maybe a couple other people. And the next weekend I looked at my wife and I was like. Damn. I mean, Jason, I love him to death. We got to go. We got to go and support him again. We got to go and support him. Let's go. The music was great. And, um, really what it was. And, uh, there's another fellow out there that you guys should pay some attention to name, uh, Jason Becker and Jason Becker was our pastor and, uh, and not a very good speaker. Jason, you're, you're, you're a phenomenal speaker now, my friend, um, but not a very good speaker at that time. And so, listen, it wasn't easy being in there. Interesting. And I appreciate, I appreciate Jason playing Pearl Jam, um, in church. And really what it was is it was a church, it was a church for people, um, that didn't fit into a regular church, right? Kind of like you didn't fit in a regular, how's it called? Yeah, yeah. And it was just, and for us, and you know, While they're up there and and every song that they had had some meaning behind it and it may be it is Pearl Jam and Listen, man, and I mean blowing it out playing it for real. Um, but but doing it for the for the love of God right and And I didn't realize it, but what had happened is that had been introduced at a time before my life had actually gotten incredibly difficult. So when things were really, really bad, that was kind of the little bit of solitude. So that was the one place where. And we all went together because my kids got wrapped up into the music of it. Um, they're, they're musicians, Chloe and, and, and, and Jacob are, um, both now and, and Dawson, um, absolutely couldn't, even though he's gone in different directions, played, played bass for a while, but, um, they were there. So we kind of had something else drawing us there and, um, And, you know, and it was church of rock and roll, uh, yeah, and it was, you know, and again, and, and, and Jason wasn't a very good speaker. So he, he, he had to, he had to find a connection, right. And he was in, and what he was very good at was taking a biblical story that didn't make a whole lot of sense. relaying it into something that just happened to him last week, which I know a lot of pastors and things like that do, but yeah, but exceptionally well in real world. And that's probably where he got his sermon from and things like that. I think what you mean is he hadn't been a very well established speaker cause it does. Listen, no, no. I mean, like, like he wasn't, he was not a good storyteller. No, that's what I mean. Yeah. He was not a good storyteller. He got better. Listen, the motives and the foundation and for what he wanted to do, um, was always there and it had the right, the heart was right. The heart was right. And, um, so, so at that point, um, You know, and even realizing it in the moment, and I'm very grateful for it today. That's probably been the moment in my life when a church has, um, had the biggest impact for me. Oh, this is a Christian church, I presume? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Talking about Jesus and all that stuff. Yeah. Telling stories about, like, being better. Reading the Bible and talking about Jesus. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was, it was, that's what it was. And, um, you know, but the reality is, you know, for me, Um, you know, I can't, I can't, I have a hard time identifying with a religion. Yeah. Um, the faith to me is, is a very personal thing. It's something that I feel it's something that I know. You're comfortable. Like you'd be comfortable being in a church picnic. Oh, Oh, absolutely. I'm, I'm not offended by it. You know, don't, don't throw it in my face. You know, I don't appreciate anything being thrown in my face, you know? And, um, especially with, With, you know, anyone that is self righteous, you know, and, and you, and you get some of that, you know, and you have that in all, all pieces of life. And, um, do you open the Bible, uh, once a year or no, no, I don't open the Bible at all. No, I don't. I've never read the Bible. Um, I've never read it cover to cover. Yeah, no, and again, and you know, um, But, you know, I've never, um, I've never discounted it. I've never not allowed it, um, to be a part of my life or to be heard. It's just certain things connect with you. Right. And for me, whatever it is, and in my heart, I have a connection with God. And, and what I believe, you know, um, kinda a fa a looser kind of a structure thing. A a looser, faster version of God. Right, right. you know, with music. Yeah. Well, you know, I, um, this, this is, this is, this is what I know is I know that faith is incredibly important. I know that's incredibly powerful. You said lot of faith, right? Yeah. Together, it's, it's in, it's incredibly powerful and, um. The, the moment when, when it becomes the most powerful is when you find it within yourself and you know that it's there, right? Unqualified, right? Not expecting anything in return. I'm not praying for results. I'm not, I'm not out sharing, sharing, you know, sharing your love. You know, you just, you just kind of realize, Hey. This is, this is it, this, there's something more than this and I'm a part of it and I'm grateful for that. Right. So that's kind of goes back to, I think, you know, again, as you kind of, you know, I was kind of stripped down raw, you know, kind of down to everything at certain days. I felt like all I had was my breath, right. It was the only thing I kind of had control of, but I also knew I was part of something bigger. And I, I firmly believe, you know, that, that you and I stand in here, you know, we're in community. Absolutely. And, and, and there's, and there's a, I believe there's a shared consciousness between all of us as a world, you know, and, and things like that. And there's, and there's some power in that, you know, and maybe God is like. People powered, right? Well, well, I can tell you, well, well listen, not say that there's a consciousness at all there, but hey, like what, what, what? Whatever it is that you, that, that you think God is, and whoever it is, it, it's flawed and whatever it is, for sure, none of us has a clear picture. We're we're trying to make it up, right? And somewhere is somebody wrote something down, but there is some kind of a connection between all of us. That's one thing that's hard to deny for any faith. It's real. I've, I've, I've felt it. I've known it. And you know, it's funny because, um, of, of, as you told me this, you know, the, the two things that, that stood out to me that I've thought about were both the faith and politics and I'm like, Oh my gosh. And every time I've thought about each one of these things. things. It's been something completely, uh, completely different and, uh, and things like that. So, uh, politics is your last mandatory topic. Oh man, wow, as an American, I'm ashamed, uh, you know, I think that, uh, I think that we can do so much. That we can have Trump v. Biden too, if you're not excited for that race? Listen, no, no, no, no, I'm not, um, I'm not at all. I think that we really have, um, America's got a, uh, you know, a whole lot of untapped potential that's there. Oh for sure, we've got such an amazing infrastructure, if we just don't get over our skis and our debt. Yeah. Yeah. And, and, and, and young minds that are, that are out there, um, you know, that can, um, you know, have some, have some solutions they'll figure out for different things. Well, you mean like the carbon problems and all this and that, like, You know, I mean, you know, I mean, you're starting to talk about carbon problems and things like that, and it's right. There's a lot of problems with the world, right? That needs to be fixed. If we just all chilled out a little bit more. Well, you know, here with it within ourselves, and you know, you start talking about carbon, you talk about world issues and things like that in reality, um, You know, politics and really what needs to happen in the United States is, you know, we need a uniter, you know, and it's hard for me, you know, as I look at it and try to find someone, you know, that I can align with, um, You know, I remember my grandfather telling me, you know, you know, I was like, what in the world is going on? And being like young, like 12, 13 years old, and maybe it was an election year, whatever, and asking what's going on? What's the difference between the two? And right, right. You know, and he's like, you know, one of them wants to, you know, do these things. Yeah. And, you know, and, and Republicans were all about money. And he goes, at the end of the day, you know, whether you like it or not, you need money. Right. So, you know, and, and that was kind of the political influence I had from him. He was like, so, so, you know, it just, in my mind, in simplest terms, you know, the safe, safe bet, if I wanted more cash in my pocket, I probably needed to go Republican. The reality is, is that they're both. Yeah, I'm very much a, um, you know, uh, uh, a moderate, you know, I have a bleeding heart. I want to help. Um, I don't like when my wallet bleeds. Right. You're right. And, and somehow there needs to be a balance and I'm, I'm tired of the fighting, you know, it's, uh, it's disgusting. Why don't you get a little RFK? Will you put an RFK sign in your front yard? You know, I really, it's, it's Cause I'm gonna, I'm gonna do that I think I'm gonna do that Yeah, yeah, you know, I haven't I haven't gone that way, you know, and Kurt God bless you, I love you man You put anything in your yard you want And I think we should be able to do that It's pretty scary though, right? Like even if you decided you were gonna vote for RFK Putting a side for RFK in your front yard would be way scarier. Well, you know what, man? I mean, it's one of those. You know, here's the thing. That's what he's trying to do. He's trying to be a uniter. Right, right. Yeah, yeah. And I think that's what we need. I think Biden, that was actually his first term phrase, right? Was unite the country or something? Yeah, yeah. I'm sure it probably was. You know, it's, it's I had, I had to be done with the news, man. I had, I had to stop and, and, and even, even still, you know, it, um, as, as you try and get through it, it's so much negativity and almost no productivity whatsoever. And for me, for me, where I'm at in my world is I want to be around people. That are moving forward. People that are positive and I don't want to see someone or listen to someone talk about how fucked up someone else is. That's not what I want to hear. I want to hear about solutions and I, and, and unfortunately that's not what motivates people. That's not exciting. That's not what gets the clicks. That's not what people get people to the polls, which is why the reality of the world is. that the people in the middle that are really out there working, they're too busy working. Are you worried about having a love focused enterprise and everybody else is worried about agendas or that would be? No, no, no, I don't. Because, you know, my response to all these jokers out there that are just, you know, spitting out one stupid thing after another is, you know, I'm going to go the other way, man. Chill out, dude. Yeah. Yeah. Listen, listen, it's yeah. And I mean, and that's a great, and that's a, that's a great thing. And, and I do want to be there because that's what I want to be around. And, um, I want to put more of it out there because there is so much negativity and it does come in politics and listen to go out and be a uniter and bring people together, um, isn't going to be sexy and exciting until everyone has been beaten to a pulp. And unfortunately that's what is change occurs when it's forced. Forced, unfortunately, um, by uncomfortable circumstances. Very rarely do we make a change, a preemptive, right? Like we're not a nation that goes out and, and, and practices preemptive medicine. We'll wait till we're sick for sure, right? You know, and that's not where I want to be. Well, I want some preventative medicine. So, you know, whoever you are out there, somebody's listening to this. You're doing yoga outside sometimes in the summer and stuff like you're listen, I've thought, I've thought about it and they've actually have thought about getting involved. Like, I'm sick of this. I just made somebody needs to just speak normally. You don't have enough money to get into. I don't have enough money and I've done too many shady things. No, but no, it's a, it, you know, it's, it's a game. It's like being an actor, being, being in politics is no different than being an actor. You just have access to, um, to, to be able to advance your financial decisions, but it's going to put money in your pocket, but you're all strings, you know, in, in at different times as I've, I've thought about things in careers and I've thought about, you know, if I really wanted to say screw it to everything, I'm either going to go into politics or I'm going to start a church. Because they both pay pretty well. If you do it right. If you do it right. And I'm a decent sales guy. Um, anything else that you'd like to touch on in the politics realm? No, you know, um, listen, just, just don't get caught up in all the hype. You know, we smoked two joints during this, uh, Yeah. Episode. Yeah. Yeah. I think, uh, well, I think. Pro marijuana legalization. I think, absolutely. Well, you know, same, same thing. You know, you, you dance that line between somewhere between, you know. Don't smoke two joints every day, every afternoon. Uh, well, I mean. Like, this is a special occasion. You're on the Loco Experience podcast. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Well, you know, I think Sublime had a great, a great song out there and maybe, maybe that's what you play in the, in the intro is, you know, the song Two Joints. They smoked two joints in the morning? Yeah. Yeah, two at the podcast, you know, um, but no, absolutely. Marijuana should be legalized, uh, you know, nationally. And it's only a matter of time. The de scheduling, the baby step was kind of dumb, right? It was. And you see, And it's, it's, it's, it's been kind of, it's, it's hard to watch and every new state that comes on, they go through all the same phases and they do all the ridiculous things like that. And then it just creates, well, there's a whole bunch of jobs created by all that red tape. It is, it is. And you know, and it's a money, it's a money grab to a certain degree and the cannabis industry unfortunately gets punished on a regular basis. Um, really, the cannabis industry is kind of being taken over by really big companies too. Well, listen, that's, that's, that's, what's gonna, that is absolutely what's going to happen. Like we talked about, there should actually be a tax on being big, like it shouldn't be on being income, like instead of being just having to get hit a certain size. Well, you want to tax what you want less of, right? And so. What we want less of is like companies to be really big and powerful, where they buy magazines and take over things. Do you really want that? Maybe you do want things to be big, because we got to get to Mars, baby. And if you're not going to get big, you're not going to get to Mars. Well, you know, and you talk about being big, or you think about Walmart or something like that, which is so massive. Um, you know, my, my family that still was living in, in, uh, New Orleans and things like that and Katrina. And, you know, the, the government couldn't get water to people, but Walmart got it done. Right, right. You know, that's, that's only from a big company. So, you know, I'm not afraid of size and things like that and, and taxation and, um, you know, associated with that definitely had some, some checks and balances, you know, associated with, but you can't stifle growth, you know, and the market will, what you don't want to do is, is put somebody in a position where, um, They, they have control, you know, over what the population does. Right, right. Right. Regardless of how big the company is. Fair enough. Um, let's move to the loco experience, if you're ready. Okay. Are you ready? Do you want to tell more than one loco experience? Because you were trying to decide. No. This one's going to take a little while. Okay. There's some setup here. Well, so, so this is, this is the crazy experience, right? Yeah, yeah. Okay. So, um, Leaving, uh, Keystone, right. I got kicked out for having my little, my little jelly jar bong or whatever it was, as I was a housekeeper, went to Austin, uh, had what it took, whatever money I had got down there and knew I had the free bus ride for mom. Right. So I got down to like my, maybe I think I had 80. We like living on a couch somewhere. Yeah, no, I had a friend at the same time, savings, no income. So yeah, no income. And at the, um, The day that I got laid off or, or, you know, got fired from my job, um, I, uh, met a guy in the hallway, a guy I skied with a few times I've skied with him only a couple of times and he was a crazy skier and he's like, man, we're leaving tomorrow to go to Austin. Just come to Austin. You know, I had my room for one more night. Um, I was like, well, you got to wait for me to get my check and stuff. And, um, I did that and got my check and jumped on a bus. Um, And, uh, went to Austin and then went down and Austin was incredible. Um, fell in love with the city. We went out to the river and you know, people at the river. Were they moving to Austin? He, that was where he was from. Right. So he already had like a friend and a roommate back in, back in Austin. So when we got to Austin, um, we had an apartment to go to and it's shady neighborhood, um, you know, and, um, but I got to see six or his first time I ever saw marijuana smoked. And in public, you know, we were in a bar somewhere on 6th Street and it was open air and I'm like, oh, I smell marijuana and I saw lowriders for the first time, you know, it's this crazy experience and, um, had this great time and then, uh, the money ran out and all I had was my bicycle and my backpack and I'm like, okay, mom, it's time. I'm, I'm coming back. And, um, so she got me my bus ticket, but I didn't go back to mom. Um, again, I think it's maybe a little generational thing. Now kids would go back to their moms. To me, that was, that was not something that you did. She only promised a bus ticket. Yeah. She gave me a bus ticket. She didn't say come home. She got me back to that. That was implied. She got me, she got me, she absolutely would listen. Never would have once turned me away. But, um, you know, I think it's important. Once you, once you, you know, as a young person, once you say, okay, this is it, I'm independent, be fucking independent. You know, you're going to need help. Listen, 50, 50 years old. I, my stepdad, Ben, God bless him, you know, has helped me at different times and things like that. So you need your family. Um, there, but you know, if you, you're a young person, he's self sufficient, stand up, stand up and be your own person. The world's going to slap you continuously. So you better be able to stand there and take a few. Yeah. But, um, so anyway, so I, I wasn't necessarily getting slapped around. I was goofing around, um, made, made my, you know, I'm on my bus ride. And I'm finally like, I'm out of it. I got 80 left and I'm like, okay, uh, ounces are 40 in Texas. So I'm like, I need an ounce of weed. I got a long bus ride and I got this little one hitter. Well, you can spend it for free if you sell three of those quarters. Hey man, it's, you know, it's, it's, it's. 35, 40 quarters in Atlanta at the time. So I got a half ounce for 40. I'm good to go, you know, and I can't smoke that much. I mean, how long is this bus ride going to last really? Right. The bus ride lasts a long time. I mean, I didn't put a dent in an ounce with a one hitter, but, um, but every time the bus stopped, I'd jump off the bus and I'd, whatever it was, I'd sneak a couple of little tokes and get back on the bus. And when the bus first started out, I just told this, this, this friend of story to a friend of mine the other day. First got on the bus. It was crazy. There are two guys in front of me, you know, just, um, drinking tequila and they were smashed. I couldn't, you know, I didn't speak any Spanish. I had no idea what's going on. Everyone on the bus, you know, was taking the bus from where to where from Austin to Atlanta, Austin to Atlanta. Right. And, and I'm doing this and I've got 40 in my pocket and I take off and it's just in my head. All I can see is like the movie airplane. Right. You know, if you remember that comedy, you know, and there's chickens and crazy people on the, on the plane, right? That's what it felt like when I first get on there and as we're going across the country, you know, and this is going in the damn Greyhound bus, God bless you, cheap as can be. It stops like every 45 minutes. I mean, there were some times I rode a bus on a long trip for a few times. We, we stopped at one point and it was just a telephone pole and a light at the top of it. There was nothing else around. There was, you couldn't see anybody and we have to sit there for 45 minutes. So I go get in the phone booth cause this, there's nowhere else to hide. So I just go get on the phone booth and I fake a call and you know, I'm smoking as much as I can in my little one hitter in this phone booth at 3 AM. So this craziness goes on and you're part of it now. Yeah. And, and the bus transition with the powder weed, it is, or they got out to it and nobody else knows this or anything like it's, I'm not sharing it with anybody. I'm just like, I'm, I'm listening to my headphones. You know, I got, I got cassette tapes and a Sony Walkman, um, Yeah. That's what I had. That was my one hitter. Yeah. So I just, I kept that packed up and I kept making this trip that just seemed like it kept getting longer and longer. The people change, you know, and it, and you know, at one point I remember the guy sitting behind me, you know, as a black guy had a little baby. So the babies, you know, make a noise here and there, but sweet little thing and, and doing their thing. And then in front of me, there's a, you know, Uh, a hippie dude and you know, he's got his dreads and his patchouli and all that stuff, which I could appreciate at the time and, um, and, and all of his gear and all this stuff and we go and I've called my, my, my buddy Slade, you know, and Like from a pay phone, right? Yeah. Oh yes. So there was no, yeah, that's all there was, you know what I mean? Had pages, but I wasn't, I didn't have, you couldn't play any games in your phone while you're driving. No, no, no. Do you read books or anything while you're traveling? Uh, you know, well, I mean, if it's when it's daylight, you know, it's even that there wasn't, I don't think there was, you're just sitting there, just look at the back of this guy's dress. Yeah, exactly. I'm looking at dreads. I'm listening to the baby behind me, looking out the window. You know, praying someone doesn't sit beside me and getting ready to stop in another 45 minutes. And, um, so this goes on and on. I've called Slade and, um, you know, when I, when I took off and, um, went out there and did this, you know, I knew these guys and that this apartment where I ended up living and I'm like, Hey man, I'm coming back into town. Just got back from Colorado, man. I can't fucking wait to tell you about this, man. Come get me. You know, I got an ounce of weed for 40, you know? So I'm, so I'm all, I'm all, you know, psyched and, um, and ready. And that's what you're bringing to the, yeah. I'm like, come on, come get me, man. You don't call everybody. Let's I'm, I'm, I'm back, you know, the boy is back in town, you know, whatever. So I'm getting ready to go and ready to see my friends, you know, coming in on like a. Friday or a Saturday afternoon or something like that. And, um, the Greyhound bus, finally, you know, you see Atlanta coming over the hill on, on 20 coming in and, um, you know, excited to be there. And the bus station is right in the heart, right in the middle of the city. And so we're going through and we're navigating the city. Right as the bus, um, pulls in, as soon as we come into the, the Greyhound parking lot, you know, and you got your stall that the bus is getting ready to pull into, um, black suburban shoots out in front of us, uh, like a SWAT, uh, vehicle. Pulls up on one side, guys jump out and like full on SWAT suits. Yeah. Well, it's a Georgia GBI, you know, Georgia Bureau of Investigation and, um, and, and, and the DEA there, and like all this shit is like happening. And so the, the moment the bus pulls in right, right up in front of me, a ladder hits the side of the bus and this guy comes up and so like every six feet, he got boarded. They, they throw ladders up and they're looking in the windows and they're looking to see, cause it was a surprise, right? Like they stopped us and then we were swarmed. So now like anything that you do, like there's a dude watching everything that I do, and I've got an ounce of weed inside my little pocket on my hoodie. You know, and I'm like, fuck. This is it my mom? I'm not gonna see my mom I was like, right, because at that time, ounce of weed was a big deal. Listen, I'm going to, I'm going to jail, like real jail there. Like I'm going to real jail and it might be some time associated with it over this stupid ounce of weed. For$40. For$40 for$40, right? So I'm sitting there and I'm like, what? So I'm just like, cool. Right. Don't move. I'm just kind of sitting there. The hippie freaks out. Right. You know, and he's just cause the dude was like at his window. And so he's got that guy all agitated. And so that's going on and I'm watching that and I'm like, what in the hell? And then this guy gets on the bus and he's got this, the German, Oh yeah. He comes up and he's got the German shepherd and he's like, Hey, I'm So and so with, uh, you know, Georgia GBI, you know, and, and this is what you're going to do. And you're going to come here and you're going to deboard like this, and you're going to go, and you're going to stop here at the bottom for Sergeant so and so and whoever the, the canine was and stuff, you know, and there's dudes running around with guns. Guns everywhere. And I'm like, Oh man, this is, I'm done. I'm done. So I take everything I have and I, and I, and I get it in front of me. Right. And I'm just like a backpack. I got, I got my backpack, my mountain Smith backpack, you know, and maybe a couple of pieces of random clothing or some shit like that. Not a whole lot. I'm trying to insulate a bag of, you know, some cheap, cheap Texas weed. And, um, probably it was probably a good thing. Yeah. It's definitely some dirt weed, so it probably wasn't all that fragrant. You know, it's not like trying to hide this stuff today, but, um, but you know, I'm going up and as we get ready to go up, I just, I'm looking at in the dude standing there with the gun, you got to go up and I'd like looked at him and like looked in his goggles and. And I looked down and I saw the guy at the bottom with the dog and I kind of, and then I, I just remember seeing a little bit of, of like a scuffle with the hippie dude. So as the hippie dude was coming down with the dreadlocks, they, they jumped the hippie dude and it's immediately like a thing. They throw him down on the ground. Um, I go down the steps, I go over immediately, go over like, just like 30 feet away, everyone else. I was in, I was towards, I was towards the back of the bus. So I was in the back, you know, 15 percent of the bus, um, I was, I was back at the back. So there's a bunch of other people. So there's like three or four, you know, there's people that are standing there. However many, a couple dozen wide and a couple of rows deep. And so they go after the hippie. The dog is all over the hippie dude stuff. I go down the steps. I go out to the left. And turn and I stand right at my next spot, like, just extend, like, we're all standing, posing for a photo, right? Like that's what it looks like. We're just all scared as shit, right? What the hell is going on? And I, and I, and I remember thinking, I can't believe I just got past the drug dog. What are they doing to that hippie? He's in a pretzel. And I watched the black dude with the baby walk past me. They walked right past me. And I noticed the way that he was walking. And then I turned and I watched him and directly behind me was a door into the terminal. The terminal is about 50 feet wide. And then there's the street on the outside. So you could look through the building and you could see the street on the other side. He walked in, he went, walked into the front door, you know, the back door there and walked straight through and walked out the front. And he went out and I'm like, all right, he's gone. I, so I ducked out, went to the bathroom, took my weed out, stuffed it behind a urinal, you know, at the bus stop. I can't believe I'm saying this. And um, so I stuff it in there and then I go back out and I walk right back to my place like for in the photo, right? I get right back in my lineup and I'm standing there. But by then they, they have gathered, uh, kilos of cocaine. I'm seeing a pyramid. What? The bus was full of cocaine? I sat on it. I sat on it from like somewhere in Mississippi or somewhere as well. There's a bunch of other people, I guess. No, no, just me. It was the black dude behind me because I remember when he got on, he had the baby bag and he had a, he had like a hockey bag, like a hockey, because I remember thinking that's the biggest duffel bag I've ever seen. Right. And, but then he's got the baby in the little baby bag and I'm like, maybe he just threw all his shit and it went right under my seat. So when they made everybody get up. They made us all get off the bus. They throw the hippie down on the ground. They get the hippie because they find all the cocaine that was under my seat. The black dude is gone, I come out, they're doing their stupid poses, like holding their guns up, and they got the dog laying in front of the cocaine, and, you know, the, the whole thing, I'm like, what? It's just all, it's all theater anyway. As, as fast as they threw their ladders up on the truck, they were gone. And then they're gone. We're just standing there in the parking lot. And we're like, and all our bags are just laying out on the parking lot. And GBI is hauled ass with God knows how many kilos were you at this? Oh yeah. We were at the final destination. Okay. We had reached our stop. I called my buddy slate and he's like, man, he goes, I came to get you. And he goes, I had to go back to the apartment and clean my truck out. He goes, there's GBI and DEA all over the place. What the hell was going on? I'm like, you never going to believe this, man. That was. I was sitting on a giant bag of cocaine. So that's my, um, that's my crazy story. Yeah. And I didn't know I was going to tell you that story until earlier. So, uh, crazy. So that's a pretty crazy experience. It was, uh, it was crazy. Like you could've got five years for that ounce of 40 ounce of weed in a day. Oh, absolutely. You know, and, and, and taking it all full circle, you know, coming back there now, you know, you, you, you, you can still go to jail there and you shouldn't. Yeah. Yeah. Fair enough. Well, it's been fun. Neighbor. Yeah. I appreciate it. And uh, we're going to have a fun walk home together. Yeah. Just for everybody's knowledge, we did drink a lot of wine. A lot of wine. We smoked some weed. Yeah. And we're going to walk home. And we are. And we're going to use the crosswalks. Yeah. Push the little buttons. I might, I might take off. Right. I may take off on a yellow, but yeah. We'll, we'll, we'll get home at the same time. We'll be safe. Yeah. Either way. Thank you. Thanks. It was fun, bud.
