Dicklebacks and a Bid for Connection

Ever wondered what sticker collecting reveals about your competitive edge? Our latest episode peels off the facade to explore the simple joys and friendly rivalries that national park stickers can spur among enthusiasts. We wax poetic about the therapeutic allure of sticker placement for the meticulously-minded, and share a chuckle over the confounding disdain puzzles evoke in others. Pets, too, join in the fun with their hilarious puzzle piece heists, demonstrating how their mischief is woven into the fabric of our daily lives. And when it comes to personal grooming, we're baring it all – discussing the trials of unwashed hair and debating the merits of a sumptuous bath over a quick shower.

Strap in for an emotional ride as we uncover the lighter and darker shades of public life. Locked down by a snowy blanket reminiscent of the pandemic's early days, we open up about the rollercoaster of cabin fever and the coping mechanisms that keep us afloat. The chapter doesn't shy away from examining the intricate dance of self-worth and self-compassion, all while finding solace in the shared misheard lyrics and melodies of our youth. And as if that weren't enough, we've got the tunes to prove it – singing along to "Wagon Wheel" and dissecting the origins of the songs that have shaped our lives.

Your taste buds won't want to miss our culinary adventures as we dish about the best pizza joint in Nashville and the infamous 'dickleback' shot that ties a bow on the night out. But don't let the savory detour fool you; we're also tackling winter's gritty charm, from the universal frustrations of customer service to the peculiarities of seasonal home maintenance. And just when you think you've heard it all, we discuss the potential joy of an Alaskan cruise and the unexpected topic of bladder hammocks. Join us and our special guests for a smorgasbord of topics that promises laughter, learning, and a hefty sprinkle of life's unpredictable seasoning.

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:04

Welcome to the Cat and Moose Podcast. I'm Kat and I'm Moose.

Speaker 2 0:09

This is a true life podcast where we explore the quirks of being human.

Speaker 3 0:16

Oh my gosh.

Speaker 2 0:18

Look at this. Kat got me this Parks of the USA metal water bottle and you put your stickers on on all the national parks that you've been to and it is so special.

Speaker 1 0:31

It's so cool and I had the best time putting my stickers on Did you kind of go down memory lane and kind of reminisce about your different adventures?

Speaker 2 0:39

I did actually, and there were a few that I had that Sarah didn't have, and vice versa, and we were very competitive about it.

Speaker 1 0:48

Ooh, it was there like a winner.

Speaker 2 0:50

No, I'm always the winner, clearly.

Speaker 1 0:54

That's also been my experience.

Speaker 2 0:56

Right Sarah. I don't remember there being a competition. There wasn't really any conflict either. I mean, there's enough conflict in the world. Do we really need to fight over national parks and who's?

Speaker 3 1:08

been where? Yeah, lord knows we don't need anymore.

Speaker 1 1:12

And I thought that by giving you guys each the same gift it would eliminate any sort of like deep competition, you know. But then I thought well, but then what if they both want the black one? Or what if they both want the white one? And then it just, oh, it turned into an absolute meltdown for me.

Speaker 2 1:30

The colors were pretty easy to determine, yeah, good. But yeah, I, it took me a good like 45 minutes to put the stickers on, because you got to get them perfectly on the little spots, yeah, and I just had a moment where I was like I mean, this is the perfect exercise for someone that has a brain like mine.

Speaker 2 1:51

Like I just really enjoyed the text style-ness of like doing a project like that and I don't do puzzles like puzzle. If you were like what is the worst thing you could get me or any one of my family, the answer would be a puzzle. Hey, hey, hey. When I first met Sarah, my mom had just was getting over an illness and she, amazon primed a puzzle, thinking like I know you guys are spending time together, this will be fun, yeah, and I showed my mom when she was alive. I was like, look at my friend Sarah got us because I didn't want to put any bad juju on it. You know what I mean. And my mom said why would she do that? Look, mom, she got us a puzzle. Why would she do that? Which is very much my mom and also solidified that that's not how our brains are built in this family. Yeah.

Speaker 1 2:48

Well, and it's so funny to me because, like Sarah, you love puzzles like puzzles 3d, puzzles like the whole nine yards.

Speaker 3 2:57

Yeah, I just. I just completed one the other day and I started it and got it all done in one afternoon. It was so fun and of course, by the time I got it done, there were four to six pieces missing, because the prior time it got done my cat threw the pieces around the house. So who knows?

Speaker 2 3:18

Where did those puzzle pieces end up, is the question.

Speaker 3 3:21

Well, I remember finding a few after the fact, and who knows where I put those, you know, yeah.

Speaker 1 3:28

Well, in you saying that you, your cat, threw it around the house or slung it around the house, and I remember your exact words. It made me like have this vision of Bella as like a pizza chef, like going Like with the puzzle.

Speaker 3 3:47

It was actually Montana. Oh, it was, and yeah, it's exactly what you think. Just imagine a tiny little scrawny four legged creature throwing small pies around. Yes, that's amazing Pies.

Speaker 2 4:01

Montana is the cat that could murder another animal in the house and Sarah would be like there's no way it was her. There's like no way. I mean right, like this cat can do no wrong whatsoever. Yeah, I mean if someone throws up or shits in the floor which rarely happens, but it does happen it's never Montana.

Speaker 3 4:25

I don't think so. Actually I don't.

Speaker 5 4:29

It's either.

Speaker 3 4:30

Archie or Bella.

Speaker 2 4:33

Sorry guys, so many, it's true.

Speaker 1 4:36

Well, I am now having a hot flash, so I've got to take my beanie off. Hang on a second.

Speaker 2 4:42

So, kat, I decided to talk Sarah and our friend Ruthie into going out yesterday, which really wasn't a great idea. We've gotten a ton of snow we need to talk about that but I had not washed this hair of mine in a couple days and it wasn't looking cute, and so I thought I'm just going to wear a beanie, like through the whole lunch and it'll be fine, and I get in there and I can't take it off Like it. I mean, this is not hair that I'm just being dramatic about. This is not hair that we'll see the light of day. I'm sitting there getting having a hot flash and I'm just lifting it up a little bit.

Speaker 2 5:24

Trying to let some heat out, but I could not take it off. So kudos to you, because your hair looks great without yours.

Speaker 1 5:30

Oh well, thank you. I just washed my hair today because I was that person yesterday as well, I was too.

Speaker 2 5:37

I was, oh wait, I already told that story. Of course I was.

Speaker 1 5:41

Well, and then I said I said to our friend, I said I think that my hair looks a little bit greasy. And she looked at me and she goes yeah, you need a bath, that's a good friend.

Speaker 2 5:50

We need friends around us that tell us it's time, it's time.

Speaker 3 5:54

Yeah.

Speaker 2 5:55

But you know you don't take baths, so that doesn't even make any sense.

Speaker 1 5:58

Right, yeah, it was just kind of funny, like it was just Do you think you could ever come around to that?

Speaker 2 6:03

because I I couldn't live without my baths. Yeah, Baths are great.

Speaker 1 6:10

I don't think I could come around to not being able to live without a bath, but I certainly could come around to taking a bath.

Speaker 2 6:16

I mean, I just say something.

Speaker 1 6:18

No, no, I'm just. I'm clarifying that, like I will take a bath, I will not change my habitual ways in that way to take baths all the time.

Speaker 1 6:30

You know, I just think it's gross. I think it's really gross and kind of along the lines of like self discovery and self worth and self preservation preservation. So I woke up today and I went to the bathroom and when I got done using the bathroom I looked at myself in the mirror and I was like, oh my God, I woke up and realized how fat I am today. I'm huge. You guys Like my face? That is not true. My face is so fat right now. That is not true.

Speaker 1 7:04

I am not receiving that on your behalf.

Speaker 2 7:14

That is not, and you know what the word fat is so terrible.

Speaker 4 7:19

I just want to say that.

Speaker 2 7:21

I and I don't know what the right word is, because I'm with you, it's the easiest term to go to. But like, what about today? Like why? Today Were you like? Oh, I know what you mean. There are days where you're like Can I get any bigger?

Speaker 1 7:41

Well, I was thinking this morning and the reason I think that that it was super noticeable to me today and thanks for reminding me. I look like this every day. Thank you for that.

Speaker 2 7:50

I didn't say that that was you.

Speaker 1 7:53

I tried a new recipe last night a green chicken curry and it was really, really salty and I thought I'm probably going to wake up with oh yeah, it's just so dear yeah.

Speaker 1 8:05

And it's like. So I think that, on top of my current state of being, my eyes were also a bit swollen, so it just like it made my face looks and it's making my face look so huge and you know, like I was thinking about our podcast today and recording today and I have so much to complain about and so much to bitch about Right so much.

Speaker 1 8:28

We are a complete podcast. I have so much to bitch about that. It's like I don't think. If I don't change my attitude, I think we're going to lose listeners. So I have renamed myself today. Catitude of Gratitude.

Speaker 2 8:43

Oh I love that.

Speaker 1 8:44

It's good. I'm going to have an attitude of gratitude. I'm still going to bitch about some things, but I'm going to also remind all of us so much that we have to be grateful for.

Speaker 2 8:55

Yeah, that's great, I agree. I agree, bitching, I too have a new saying that goes around this household, and that is I'm going to need you to raise your vibration. Yeah, and Sarah has adopted it, which sounds very new age, which is exactly who I am. Great, yes, but in all honesty, like look, you have a couple conversations about what's happening in your own life or the world, either one. If you could totally just swirl right.

Speaker 3 9:28

Right.

Speaker 2 9:29

OK, goodpropeller, zachary Williamson, that does not produce anything positive. It just it literally makes you probably fall into habits that you hate about yourself.

Speaker 1 9:40

To be honest, Well, and it makes me go like you know how people invented like Da Vinci invented a bunch of stuff, and like Socrates invented stuff, and like Albert Einstein invented stuff. It's like I'm like today I'm gonna be an inventor and I'm gonna invent the downward Fibonacci spiral. Oh yeah let's not do that that sounds bad.

Speaker 1 10:04

Well, it is bad, because it's just the same like misery over and over and it's just me recognizing and validating what you're saying is that it's like, if you get stuck in, that you know it's like it's just a cycle of doom. And I was thinking.

Speaker 1 10:20

I was also going to the bathroom again today, apparently, I think, when I use the restroom and I was thinking about how, in the past few years, we have as a society, as a whole planet, we have dealt with war, we have dealt with a global pandemic, we have dealt with all kinds of just terribleness in general, and like it's amazing to me that any of us think that our nervous systems aren't completely shot.

Speaker 3 10:55

Yeah, and they are like 10 times over. Yes, they are.

Speaker 2 11:01

I saw this to what you're explaining. I saw this thing on Instagram today that was talking about how CEOs have finally come around to realize that people don't have to be at work 40 hours a week, which is encouraging. That that is the theme. Do they change it to 80? No, but then I saw another Instagram thing that was talking about how we were never built to be working 40 hours a week. Like that is not what we were built. They said it was actually a way to keep the woman at home, so the man could work and that could be his main thing is his work, and is that like an American thing? Well, I would guess. So I don't know, though that's a great question, but it just made me think, like of course, we're burned out. I mean, I say all the time like, yeah, I haven't been very well for about five years, and then I always just assume I put 2019 in there because that's when my mom passed away and that's when some shit began.

Speaker 2 12:05

But no, like it's not just me, like there's wars and there is a major pandemic and we had to learn how to do things all over again because of that and I'm still not functional right.

Speaker 1 12:20

Yeah, I mean, you are functional Moose. Like we couldn't do this podcast every week. Well, let's be honest, if it weren't for Sarah, hey, this is 45 minutes of my day.

Speaker 2 12:30

You don't know, maybe I just pull this. Well, you do know, actually I forget, I know, you, you just pull it together for 45 minutes, that's all we need, guys.

Speaker 3 12:40

This is the best I got.

Speaker 1 12:41

And then Sarah goes and sits in a dungeon for eight hours to listen to us say the same shit over and, over and over.

Speaker 3 12:52

She's all right with it. I mean, it's not the same shit. Well, this is true. Some of it is.

Speaker 1 12:56

I mean, it's true.

Speaker 3 12:57

But it's life's lessons, yeah, and we're all experiencing them, and the rest of it is just funny as shit.

Speaker 1 13:04

We're all going through, yeah it's the quirks of being human, that's what we talk about, it's what we do and, in my spirit of having an attitude of gratitude, one of the things I was thinking of today, when I was thinking about everything I wanted to gripe about, is just how incredibly much I look forward to this time together each week, and I have so much fun doing this with you guys, and I have so much fun interacting with our listeners, and I just want to thank you guys and by you guys I mean Moose and producer Sarah, but also our listeners. Thank you so much for taking this journey with us Very very grateful, me too.

Speaker 2 13:43

So there's been snow, I love it. There have been deaths? Oh, there have.

Speaker 1 13:52

Yes, what do we need to catch up on?

Speaker 2 13:56

There have been deaths because of the snow. Oh yeah, it's awful, it's so funny. I'm not trying to laugh at that, I'm laughing at OK. So I really want to know, because I feel like people ask the question how are you, how are you guys really Like right now? How are you for real?

Speaker 1 14:16

Yeah, this is one of the things that it really helps me to think about. I think it's really important to have compassion for the artists that we work with who are quote unquote public figures. Like I've remained like frustrated over the course of my adulthood and my career. It like why is being a public figure something that seems to make someone really insecure? It's like if you're just really good at a thing, why don't you just go do it? Like I don't understand where the insecurity comes from? But we've been doing the podcast for several years. I find myself having similar thought patterns of going well, what is so and so going to think if they're listening, and what is so and so going to think if they're listening. And so when you ask, how am I doing, it's like which version of my ego am I willing to actually put out there in the world?

Speaker 1 15:12

That's good Kat, oh thanks.

Speaker 2 15:15

Thank you, no, I keep going. I'm just saying, like that's some real honesty right there.

Speaker 1 15:21

Yeah, it is real honest. And so I'm not doing great man, like I'm not doing great, I'm suffering from, and I really don't want to go anywhere. So I don't know why I'm saying I'm suffering from cabin fever, because I love being at my house, but it's like there's something about there being eight inches of snow on the ground and in Nashville that's like the end of the world.

Speaker 1 15:41

You know, it's like nothing functions with this amount of snow on the ground, and so I think there's a little bit of that. I was talking with a client yesterday and we were talking about how we feel like both of us are kind of being triggered by all this time at home back to March of 2020.

Speaker 1 15:59

Yes, I agree and going like does this mean that we're going to have to live this way and that our careers are going to change forever because of this pandemic thing and like?

Speaker 1 16:10

So we were just talking about like at the beginning of the podcast. We were talking about, like, our nervousness, like our nervous systems are probably just completely shot, and in the new mentioned at a second ago too, then we do things to quote, unquote, help us feel better or to cope, and then that makes us even more miserable. You know and I was reading something the other day and we've talked about this before on the podcast the concept of dopamine and how dopamine is kind of like the hormone or the chemical in your body that like makes you feel elated or high or euphoric or whatever. You know whatever word that you want to attach to it. And this article that I read said that the amount of dopamine that you get from having sex is like 40 milligrams I don't know how it's measured, but let's just say it's 40 something and the amount of dopamine that you get from drinking alcohol is 400 times that. Oh, wow.

Speaker 1 17:11

And so, like the basic human pleasure of having sex is 10 times less powerful than what happens to the body when we drink, that's crazy and it's like why in the world do we think that this is easy stuff to just go like I'm having a bad week and so now I'm just going to go run six miles? You know it's like right, it's very, very complicated.

Speaker 2 17:40

Listen, it is. I think that is so true as well, as someone who used to drink a lot quit drinking and now I drink tiny bit, but that first drink is the best drink. Let's be honest, right and the only reason you have more drinks after that is because of how it's making you feel Right, Like yes, it's flavorful whatever it is, but generally it's. I want to sustain this feeling.

Speaker 1 18:09

Yes, yes, yep.

Speaker 2 18:12

And I. It is like now. I have a different sort of check-in with myself, but I have to literally talk myself out if I'm really feeling good after that first drink. I generally only have two drinks now, but if I'm feeling good after that first drink, it's really hard for me to not slide in and be like I want to keep feeling this way. So of course, that makes sense you know, the problem is after 40, the next day you feel like crap.

Speaker 1 18:44

It's true. And then you wake up thinking that you're really, really fat and then you realize, wait a minute, this doesn't have to do with alcohol, this has to do with sodium. So it's like I spent the first 10 minutes of my day in an emotional battleground today.

Speaker 2 19:00

You know, it's like God, do you ever like rub your belly and tell your belly how much you love it? Or?

Speaker 3 19:06

is that just?

Speaker 2 19:08

I mean, I have to do that kind of stuff, I have to do that kind of stuff to come to actually connect with my body, Because my thing is I don't. Touch is important for me to receive and I like to give touch as well, but I don't know how to do that for myself and I'm not going anywhere. Weird, don't worry.

Speaker 5 19:27

But like I've said before, and when I think about you I touch myself. Oh, I don't want anybody else who sang that song?

Speaker 2 19:43

The Divinals. The Divinals, yes, I did not know that song meant, what it did when.

Speaker 3 19:50

I was young.

Speaker 2 19:51

I did it. I really did and I was just singing it and somebody was like do you know what that means? And I'd never even thought of it.

Speaker 1 19:58

I was like wow, I mean, I remember listening to that song and screaming it. I don't want anybody else.

Speaker 2 20:06

Me too. I thought it was like an FU song to the world, like I don't need anybody, and I was like I touch myself, oh, and I didn't have a clue that it meant down there, oh my.

Speaker 3 20:22

God.

Speaker 2 20:23

Oh goodness, maybe it didn't.

Speaker 1 20:24

Maybe it didn't. Maybe she just meant from a body work perspective, right.

Speaker 2 20:30

I don't want anybody else.

Speaker 1 20:31

I'm just going to do acupressure on myself. Exactly, I think she was a body worker. I think she was too.

Speaker 2 20:37

Wow, wow. Okay, speaking of touching people, sarah, do you mind playing that link I sent you? I want to get your guys' thoughts on this idea, but I'll just let you play it first.

Speaker 5 20:51

Okay, here we go Free advice from a licensed trauma therapist. If you're reaching out to people, if you're making bids we call them bids for connection. So anytime you walk into a room, if you said something out loud that you wouldn't say when you were by yourself, that's considered a bid for connection. It could be digital, on social media, you could be sending links, you could be texting people, you could be. There's lots of ways to create bids for connection. And if somebody's not responding to that or they don't reciprocate in the same amount or the same way, take care of yourself and go find people that do. Bids for connection are an integral part of our human experience and if people aren't responding to that, if they're not reciprocating, if you send them way more stuff than they send you, don't waste your time. Stop wasting your time, okay.

Speaker 2 21:45

Cat, I saw that and I thought of you. That's the lie, because I am protective of her and I wish that after every time that she hung out with another person besides me, that she would write up a report and tell me how they treated her, and then I would deny or approve their deeper depth into your life.

Speaker 3 22:14

That sounds great.

Speaker 2 22:15

Because I feel like you give people so much this is probably the plight of a two and you do not get what you deserve and return. And maybe everyone feels that way. I don't feel that way for what it's worth, but I do give bids for connection and I know what she's talking about. When you don't get it back and how that feels and it's a terrible feeling and I had never heard that phrase before and curious if y'all had.

Speaker 1 22:44

No, I've never heard that before and I didn't know that this episode was going to be a therapeutic experience for me. Oh good, let's do it. Well, I'm not saying I want to do that, but I have had some things happen recently mostly work related stuff where I have realized like I have not either expected or commanded or demanded the amount of respect that I offer to the relationship and I keep wondering, like, what is that? Like, why is that In my like, what do I need? You know, it's like, is it money? Is it like feeling special about myself? It's like what is that? And so I'm curious what your little blonde headed, cute, skinny, blue eyed friend on Instagram has to say about that she's.

Speaker 2 23:43

Sarah, what give?

Speaker 3 23:43

her credit. Okay, Her name is Jenna Pacelli. Hey girl.

Speaker 1 23:49

Hey Jenna, hey girl. Hey, I think you're wonderful and you're really pretty and I'm jealous that your shit is just all sew together.

Speaker 3 23:59

She's an.

Speaker 2 23:59

LMFT. Maybe her shit's not together, maybe she's just sharing to help us, okay. So yeah, had you guys ever heard that term? Bid for connection no.

Speaker 3 24:12

No, but it explains it very well to me.

Feeling Connected and Discussing Music

Speaker 2 24:14

It did me too, and I also found myself having shame around the idea of requesting a bid for connection because the phrase, the phrase doesn't give me shame, I actually like the phrase. But it made me really think about like oh wow, that is what I'm doing, even if I don't want somebody to like, like I think about when we text our little thread of friends. Like some, most of the time I'm just letting you guys know what's going on in my life, but I am trying to connect, like I want you to know I may be going like hey, can you pray for me or can you know? Can you guys just send good thoughts my way because this is happening? But I am wanting some sort of response to go like I'm in this with you.

Speaker 1 25:02

Right yeah, how do you feel like in your life, like, do you feel like when you look at your closest relationships, like are you receiving that?

Speaker 2 25:13

Um, yeah, I mean, I think, uh, I think I'm receiving it. I think that, um, I would rather. Yeah, like, yes, text is like the way we all communicate, Agreed, but like, for me, I love in-person connection, but, yeah, I think I have it from my friends, but I have a very small group of people and you guys know that, like, there's like four or five people that I'm really close to. And, yeah, I think I'm getting what I need from those folks.

Speaker 1 25:51

Well, and you said kind of at the beginning of this topic that you felt protective of me and that you don't deal with this very much. Like you were saying, like this is something that I don't have as much of a problem with because of whatever reason I don't know what that is that I don't have, that you do have, but I'm jealous of it and would like some of it, because I do think you're really good at that, and while your friendships may be you know how did you say it Like a small group of people, like you know that, you know that you know that you can count on them. Oh, totally. And so it's like, well, which is better to have a whole bunch of people that you don't have any clue what they think about you, or is it to have four or five people that you know always, no matter what, has your back? You know?

Speaker 2 26:42

I will return a cat phrase to you and say yes, yes, oh. And what I mean by that is I have been in situations I feel like now I am in a very like confident, happy place with my core people. But I have been in places in my life and you guys knowing me will know who I'm talking about. I can think of at least two people in my life where I was giving more than I was receiving, and not that that's necessarily what I'm talking about. At the end of the day, it's more about connection and not like tit for tat. So I would say that.

Speaker 2 27:23

But I can look at like two people in my life that I wanted so badly cats holding her tit and her tat. I can look at there was this any Graham teacher who I really just wanted to be her star student, and then I became her star student and I didn't want to be anymore, and so there was that. And then there was another one that I just I just had to say goodbye to because it was lopsided in a lot of ways. So I understand it. I just say right now I feel like I've got my little moat build up with my people.

Speaker 1 28:05

Well, I feel like I don't want to be like presumptuous, but the fact that we get together at least once a week and do this podcast, I feel like maybe I'm one of those people.

Speaker 2 28:14

I mean, you could hope, you could hope, I doubt it, I doubt it.

Speaker 4 28:18

I really doubt it.

Speaker 1 28:19

I just threw out a bid for connection and you just really shadowed.

Speaker 2 28:22

I mean, I told you I have a shield when it comes to connection. Yeah, what, what? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, oh. And then I'm like, when we are together, I'm like, hold me, and I lay my head upon one's breast.

Speaker 1 28:37

Yes, yes, I do enjoy.

Speaker 2 28:39

I do enjoy holding you, I do enjoy, like Well we're kind of the right height because you're a lot taller than me, so I just kind of lean in.

Speaker 1 28:47

Yeah, you lean in and you lay your head right here, you swaddle me, yeah, and I just kind of yeah, it's very, it's very sweet.

Speaker 2 28:53

I like, when you rock me back and forth, rock you like a wagon wheel. So rock me, mama, like a wagon wheel. Rock me, mama, any way you feel. Hey, mama, rock me. I don't know that song. It's not Mumford and Sons. Oh, I'm going to get in so much trouble for not knowing that. You know, I mean it's. It's like from Florence Alabama.

Speaker 1 29:19

Kat. Oh well, that doesn't mean I should know it just because I have family there, come on. Well, what is it Now? You're pretty sure it's by Dylan. You like the Google machine.

Speaker 3 29:29

I think Darius Rucker covered it. I don't know who wrote it, I think so. Ok, I'm going to jump in here real quick to say and just confirm that, yes, the song Wagon Wheel was co-written by Bob Dylan and a guy named Ketch Seekor of a band called the Old Crow Medicine Show. Apparently, dylan recorded the chorus in 73 and Seacore added the verses 25 years later. Okay, bye.

Speaker 1 29:54

Can I talk about another thing that has to do with music?

Speaker 3 29:58

Well, sure.

Speaker 1 29:59

Yes, please tell us Okay. So I went to an event last week that was the governor of the state of Tennessee talking about some legislation, and I know I talked about that on last week's podcast and I'm not going to review it again.

Speaker 1 30:15

I was hoping you were going to read the legislation on the podcast because we are a political lobbying legislative podcast and I said last week that I was in RCA Studio A for this press conference and the dog was there and I posted a picture of it on social media and I was like, oh, my heart is still moved by this image or whatever. And so I wanted to do a little bit of research about who was that dog like, what is the history behind that dog, and I promised that I would bring that to the podcast this week and I did.

Speaker 1 30:51

Yeah, you did because you're a follow thrower. You sure are, I'm a follow thrower. This is a follow thrower podcast and I think it's the sweetest story and I'm going to kind of paraphrase it a little bit. If you care about it more deeply, you can easily Google the RCA dog and you can read the same story that I have read. But this dog, it's debated on whether it's a bull terrier or a fox terrier or a jack russell terrier, but there's no argument that it's terrier.

Speaker 1 31:17

And back in the late 1800s the owner of the dog saw the dog staring into like the gramophone, if you will. Yeah, this is exactly the story I read, sarah. So if you scroll down just a little bit more, you can see the sweetest picture of this dog just looking into the phone part of the gramophone. I think it's the sweetest thing in the world. This guy that had this dog noted this experience and then I want to say it's like his brother or somebody like that after he died, inherited the dog and was an artist and painted a painting of it and, like, sold rights to the painting to RCA and E1.

Speaker 1 32:06

And then people in the United States were like we would like to license this or whatever. And if you keep reading about the history of this dog, you'll find out that its name is Nipper and they say it got its name Not to be confused with Nipple, Not Nipple, the RCA dog Nipper.

Speaker 4 32:24

The.

Speaker 1 32:24

RCA dog, and they said that the dog would often greet its guests by nipping them on the legs, which sounds pretty possible. And then in the later 20th century, they introduced a new character called Chipper. So there's Nipper and Chipper. Oh my gosh, and it was RCA's way of saying like we are nostalgic and solid, and what you've always known us to be, and we're also innovators of new things.

Customer Service Woes

Speaker 1 32:57

Oh that's cool, and so I thought it was a brilliant marketing campaign about Nipper and Chipper and I was just so delighted and I watched and I was hoping, sarah, you might be willing to play the commercial that is at the end of this story about Nipper and Chipper. This is from 19 year mom, something Okay.

Speaker 4 33:21

You're about to enter a new era in television. With this 18 inch RCA satellite dish you get CD quality sound, 150 channels and a digital picture so sharp, so real. It raises home theater to a new level. The RCA digital satellite system. Television will never be the same.

Speaker 2 33:50

That is so stinking cute, oh my gosh. Isn't that the cutest?

Speaker 1 33:54

thing Like that's the kind of stuff that I want to spend my time thinking about. You know, it's like that is so smart and so sweet and so precious and so meaningful and is one of the 20 most well-known business icons of the 20th century.

Speaker 3 34:11

Was it really?

Speaker 2 34:12

That's really neat Nipper and Chipper.

Speaker 1 34:16

Nipper and Chipper. Nipper specifically, the RCA dog specifically. I love it.

Speaker 2 34:20

That is so cool. I didn't know that.

Speaker 1 34:23

Isn't that neat. It is neat Music history lesson for you, Chris. I'm sure you already know all about that.

Speaker 3 34:29

Probably.

Speaker 1 34:30

And are going to send us an email telling us about your experience with Nipper and maybe Chipper, and I'm going to look so forward to that. Our friend Chris. I have never met someone so steeped in musical history, it's true. Seriously.

Speaker 2 34:46

That's why I know he was nervous about the Bob Dylan thing, although. I don't think he's a Bob Dylan fan, but maybe I'm wrong.

Speaker 3 34:52

I'm not either. I believe he's the most popular person in the world.

Speaker 2 34:56

I've seen him and your sister Addy oh man, my sister knows a lot.

Speaker 1 34:59

So does my sister. When it comes to 80s, yeah, I think we've said a few times before that we should do some sort of trivia thing with the three of them.

Speaker 2 35:08

I know we really should. I will definitely want to mention our sponsor for this week's podcast, our favorite pizza, nashville. Diceys, diceys, diceys, diceys. You don't know what diceys is.

Speaker 1 35:21

You won't be able to find anywhere to park, but that's okay, it's worth it.

Speaker 3 35:25

Yeah, it's not true.

Speaker 2 35:26

There's parking right across the street it literally feels like you're in an old-school pizza hut, but like clean, so it's kind of cool. I do want to say we met some friends there and Kat Kat greeted Sarah and I with what is called a fun shot. Oh yeah, they have several different flavors of fun shots, but this one in particular was called the dickleback Mm-hmm, and it is George, dickle and pickle juice. Ugh, a shot of each. Yeah, and you guys this. It would surprise you. Obviously the dickle burns a little bit, but that that I would have paid $10 for the pickle juice.

Speaker 1 36:06

Ooh, right, right, like I was fascinated. So the whole reason that I even learned about this is that I went there by myself on Saturday to get pizza to go, yeah, and then I invited some friends, including you guys, to go on Sunday, yeah, and when I was there on Saturday, they miss, they miss made my pizza Like they did kind of what Bella does with the puzzles, I guess, and they just kind of like Shakes it around.

Speaker 1 36:31

Yeah they like swapped it around with the wrong ingredients. So I had to wait like 15 more minutes and the guy was like, can I pour you anything? And I'm like, well, I guess.

Speaker 4 36:40

Like I'm just going to be sitting here, yeah, like heck, yeah, and it's like 11 o'clock in the morning.

Speaker 1 36:43

That is not really the time to drink, but I thought you know I'm going to try.

Speaker 2 36:47

Some days it is.

Speaker 1 36:48

Some days it is, and in last Saturday was that day for me, and so I ordered the dickleback and in the bartender told me he said sip the whiskey and then sip the pickle juice. And he said you will be amazed at how they work together. And I was like that's so disgusting, but okay, whatever, and I did and it was delicious, oh really. Well, you would know you took some.

Speaker 2 37:15

Oh, yeah, I did. Sorry I was. I got to be honest. I was just looking up something else. I already did that. Oh, you did, I'm so sorry. Okay, that's okay, kat, let me redo that. It was delicious. I have to say, though, dickleback is a cool phrase, but they really missed an opportunity here to call it the dickle pickle. True, truly Okay. So also on this menu, if you are a, if you are a patron, you can see this. They have five fun shots. Those include the doctor Pib, a little PBR, amaretto rum shots, the mind eraser, kahlua, vodka and soda water, the dickleback, the lemon drop we all know, and the underberg, which is a digest.

Speaker 1 37:59

Underberg, underberg, underberg. It's a digest. I have them in my liquor cabinet. Yeah, I know you do you introduced me to them.

Speaker 2 38:06

But then there's one thing listed under the unfun shots, otherwise known as not fun, and we tried to order it, but she talked us out of it.

Speaker 3 38:17

Yeah. So we even tried to ask her what it tastes like, and she was just like, just just don't order it.

Speaker 1 38:22

She said it's so bad, don't order it, yeah, exactly.

Speaker 3 38:26

And we asked her what it tasted like and she was like I can't even describe it, just don't order it. And I thought, well, that doesn't sound very fun at all. Yeah, so it's called Malort and Jepsen's. Malort, apparently, is a brand of Basque liqueur introduced in the 1930s and long produced by Chicago's Carl Jepsen company.

Speaker 2 38:47

What's Basque liquor? Do you know what?

Speaker 1 38:49

that is Kat. I've never heard of it until Dicey's Pizza Me either.

Speaker 3 38:54

Yeah, so I looked it up and apparently it's a traditional wormwood based digestive Wormwood. Yes, malort has been described as infamous and the worst booze ever. It is known for its extremely bitter taste that many people find disgusting.

Speaker 2 39:13

Oh my gosh yeah.

Speaker 3 39:16

So, malort, don't drink it. I, I don't think I want any so, malort, don't drink it.

Speaker 2 39:21

I do. I think it's funny that they have fun shots and then someone went. Wouldn't it be funny if we had an unfun? Fun shot, yeah and I bet they sell a shit ton of them because tourists probably go in there and they're like and they've already had 20 shots, so they're like, right, right, they're like this Malort.

Speaker 1 39:44

This is amazing. We need to get a bottle of Malort for the podcast studio.

Speaker 3 39:56

Yeah, and we have to take a shot every time we have something up.

Speaker 2 39:59

Yeah, I don't know what we would do to f up, but whatever, I don't know plenty. That's what you got to do.

Speaker 1 40:06

Okay, so we talked about at the beginning of this episode. We talked about some stuff that I wanted to bitch about, and I feel like I'm not gonna get to bitch about it. So I would like to take some time now. This is the part of the podcast where, if you don't want to hear me grab about something that probably is very relatable to your life, then fast forward by like 30 seconds.

Speaker 4 40:26

Yeah, I just want to talk about how hideous customer service is.

Speaker 2 40:33

Yeah, what happened? You're totally doing like a get off my lawn, aren't you?

Speaker 1 40:39

I mean I.

Speaker 2 40:41

Don't know what that means. It's like the old man that's just grumpy and like get off my lawn.

Speaker 1 40:47

Yeah, yeah, my neighbor does that to me all the time. It's why are you on her lawn? Well, it's, it means it's her lawn. She's the one that has the cellophane wrapped mailbox. Oh yeah. Oh, okay, her son who lives with her, who is 20 years older than me. I that's not weird at all, no judgment, I'm probably just offended so many people. Anyway, every now and then when he sees me and my dog out walking, if I'm anywhere near his yard, he's like get off my lawn.

Speaker 1 41:18

He says Come out the door and say I want to yell back. You haven't walked on this lawn in 50 years, you know like because it's not like he goes out there and rolls around or anything. Anyway, I'm just talking about like we've all been victim of this horrible cyber attack and it's the worst thing in the world.

Speaker 1 41:38

I'm listening in the world you know all that kind of stuff and dealing with people at constant contact and go daddy and Domains, calm and all of these different entities the customer service is horrible. It's horrible, it's just horrible. And I just wanted to hear, like, is that also your experience, or am I just special?

Speaker 2 42:00

No, it's horrible and I will say go daddy, who has been good. Wix is the worst and I never said that last week. I love Wix's build like website building program, but I'm sorry. Literally I've talked to 87 people there and they all hear one word I got hacked and they go oh, oh, let me figure this out. And then the phone hangs up. Literally. They just hang up on me. I'm with you, it's terrible and I don't understand, I Guess, if you don't need support.

Speaker 2 42:36

Some of these companies are really great, but I don't know what the deal is with the support.

Speaker 1 42:40

Yeah, the support's terrible. And I was dealing with dealing with constant contact today and I used to do this website called the dailyverse calm and I'd sent out daily Bible verses and did little commentaries on them and stuff like that. And I stopped doing that several years ago and when I talked to the people at constant contact about canceling my account, they were like, why don't you just suspend your account? We'll charge you ten bucks a month and we'll keep all your data so that way you don't lose. You know all the emails that you've sent and all of that kind of stuff. And I was like, okay, like that probably sounds like a good idea.

Speaker 1 43:16

And so since the latest Hacking experience, I have gone through and removed and cancelled any subscription I've made to anything ever that I'm no longer using, and so in order to cancel a subscription with constant contact, you have to ask their online help they're like chat people for help and then they send you through like an AI situation which basically says, oh, you want to cancel your account. We can't handle that here, you have to call our customer service, of course yeah, you can't hit a button Right, then they give you like a 855 number to contact customer service in a security code.

Speaker 1 43:53

That's good for 30 minutes, but they put you on hold for 47 minutes. Yeah, and all of this to cancel a $10 and 63 cent a month Subscription and by God, I did it, like I the whole time, and I did it cuz I was like I'm getting my 10 bucks back, but dang, I mean customer service is rough you guys so bad.

Speaker 2 44:15

I agree, and you know what I got. To be honest, I wouldn't want to be the on the other side of it either. I would not want to be the one to pick it up the phone because you know there's some assholes calling in like me who sound like an asshole but really just trying to get down to the matter. But yeah, I don't think anyone's winning with customer service.

Speaker 1 44:33

No, you are customer service.

Speaker 2 44:34

God bless you, Okay.

Customer Service and Winter Weather Conversations

Speaker 1 44:36

God bless you. And I was in CVS today to pick up a prescription and there was like ten of us in line because the drive-thru was closed and there's snow everywhere and and all of that, and the lady In front of me proceeded to go. When it was her turn, she talked to the cashier and she was like what do I need to do to work here? And the cashier was like and she was like seriously, you guys seriously need some help. What do I need to do to work here?

Speaker 1 45:02

Wow, I was like lady like you're wasting everybody's time and you're the reason that customer service is terrible, because you're terrible like it's the customer.

Speaker 2 45:12

Yeah. I'm so basically we've determined customer service, and customers are awful.

Speaker 1 45:17

Yes, so humans are terrible.

Speaker 2 45:21

We. We are a podcast about the quirks of being human, and you're all terrible.

Speaker 1 45:26

Yes, yes, us included. I have a question about winter weather stuff.

Speaker 2 45:31

Okay, tell us. I have all the answers. This is a weather podcast.

Speaker 1 45:36

Okay, good. Well, I wish we would interview Lisa Spencer then, because, well, you know, gosh, we have something to tell you.

Speaker 2 45:42

Are you going on her cruise?

Speaker 1 45:44

Oh, oh. I saw it the other day and I Know, let me fill in our fans.

Speaker 2 45:51

So if you're a listener, cat has oh Adoration for one of our weatherwomen called Lisa Spencer on Channel 4 news here in Nashville and she is going on an Alaska cruise and I saw it as we were watching the weather the other day and I was like, oh, cats already booked, she's going, I am not going, except we're all poor.

Speaker 3 46:14

So I figured that wasn't the case. Yeah, I have the video. Do you guys want to watch it?

Speaker 2 46:19

Oh, Patrons, you're getting. You're getting a treat. This is our local news woman.

Speaker 5 46:29

Hello, I'm Lisa Spencer and I can't wait to travel with you. Take a few minutes to watch the presentation below and learn more about this Fantastic tour. As a thank you, you'll receive a valuable travel credit. I look forward to seeing you in Alaska, oh.

Speaker 2 46:45

My gosh, are we going?

Speaker 1 46:48

I mean, I would love to. I would love to. The thing is is I think that she's gonna do one of those things that our Clients have done Alaska, yeah she's gonna come to like a dinner where nobody gets to meet her, and then she's gonna fly home, yeah.

Speaker 3 47:05

I Completely guys, it's 13 26 meals, and the whole thing costs $5,900. What?

Speaker 2 47:16

I mean, who can even take off 13 days, not I.

Speaker 1 47:23

And this leads me into what I was gonna tell you guys about or ask you guys about, is that you know, being in Nashville and being under eight or nine inches of snow, you know it's. It's made us have to, like, have our faucets dripping and stuff like that. And in a question came up the other night, how in the world do people who live in colder climates, how do they live like, for example, I know we have listeners in Canada, we have listeners in Australia, we have listeners in England and I don't think it gets super cold in Australia, does it? I don't have a clue.

Speaker 5 47:58

I don't know either.

Speaker 1 48:00

And look at up. I'm curious about our, specifically our, friends in Canada. It's cold all the time up there, like eight months of the year. It's like really, really cold, and so do do Canadians leave their water dripping like eight months of the year and just have a big water bill.

Speaker 2 48:15

They must have some other situation right, which definitely yeah, I mean, that's what I'm curious about.

Speaker 1 48:21

I'm wondering what you think.

Speaker 2 48:22

I don't know I, I mean I. They must have a whole other situation because they can't let their water drip all the time. Can they know?

Speaker 1 48:32

that's what I'm thinking, like I've been Mine's been dripping for about five days straight. I'm like well, you know.

Speaker 2 48:38

I love that. We said mine's been dripping, mine's been dripping for five days now. For five days, speaking of, I was at my doctor and she was giving an example of you know, if you have an injury, you still find ways to like move and you still find ways to work out and things like that. And she was giving you these examples and she's like, for instance, if you, if you're having incontinence, then we're gonna get you a bladder hammock.

Speaker 2 49:09

Oh, like oh Okay, but it was fair. And then she just kept going and if you have a hurt ankle, we're gonna get you a brace, and I was like uh-huh, but I was still stuck on bladder hammock.

Speaker 3 49:22

Tell me about that. Well, I have an update, guys. Oh, you do. Yeah, australia does have winter okay but what kind of winter.

Speaker 2 49:35

Bladder hammock hanging.

Speaker 3 49:37

Oh sorry.

Speaker 2 49:38

Okay, sorry. So bladder hammock is simply a sling surgery which doesn't work. I know everyone that's had it and it doesn't work. So it's a one, but apparently she thinks it's an option. Okay, back to you, sarah.

Speaker 3 49:49

Oh, okay great reporting live. Okay, australians, please help me out with this, because I'm clearly just a silly American. Does Australia get snow? Yes, it snows in several Australian states, including New South Wales, tasmania, south Australia and Victoria for Alpine ski, and Susie's. Nsw is home to the magnificent snowy mountains. Huh, well, that was cleverly named. It was Boasting the highest mountain range in Australia. The snowy mountains receives an average of 1.9 meters of snowfall per year, which equates to 6.2, 3, 3, 6 feet. Wow.

Speaker 1 50:29

Wow, wow, yeah. Now, nine meters isn't a meter like three and a half feet?

Speaker 3 50:35

No, no, no, be like one point.

Speaker 1 50:36

Nine meters, oh one point nine Okay, well, who knew?

Speaker 3 50:41

about the snowy mountains. Yeah, the snowy mountains of Australia. Thank you, Sarah but what about?

Speaker 2 50:47

can you check on the Canadians and the water dripping? I mean, I feel like, yeah, that's an easy Google like do Canadians have to drip their water?

Speaker 1 50:55

Yeah, I think Leslie should should write in or call in. Well, she can't because all of our numbers are hacked. So, leslie, I think.

Speaker 2 51:01

By the way, don't go to our website. They're still on our website.

Speaker 1 51:04

It'll kill you Um, yeah, so Leslie you can text me, guys.

Speaker 3 51:09

I think they just insulate them better Because the areas they live in or are colder. Longer their areas are colder. Yeah, okay, they use fiberglass or foam or heating tape for pipes. Hey, now you know. Yeah, now you know, guys, if we're off, tell us Mm-hmm. Give us insight, give us tips. We don't know, we don't know, we don't know, I don't know until you tell us.

Speaker 1 51:37

That's right.

Speaker 2 51:39

Bye guys, have a great weekend. Bye everyone. We love you.

Speaker 1 51:52

Special thanks to our producer, sarah.

Speaker 2 51:53

Reed. To find out more, go to Captain Moose podcastcom. Captain Moose is a BP production.