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#51: Mini Tiger Prawn
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#51: Mini Tiger Prawn
Francis is angry at the weeding he doesn’t want to do and the pigeons he has to chase away each day before they build a nest. At the same time, he can’t figure out how construction workers know what to do each day while building a high rise. Meanwhile, Jessica is absolutely amazed by the peculiar story of future NHL draft pick, Jaxon Cover. Reluctantly, Francis recounts his disastrous dining experience at Gordon Ramsay’s latest venture at Bishopsgate.
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Transcript
Introduction and Brooklyn Roots
00:00:02
Speaker
From a makeshift recording studio in Brooklyn, welcome to The Grocery Stick with Jessica and Francis. Shut the front door. That is not what we agreed upon. Francis and Jessica. Meh, ignore that.
00:00:13
Speaker
We're Brooklynites and friends. We're here to talk, laugh, commiserate, and argue about all things travel sports-related, kid-related, and plain old life-related. It's Francis and Jessica, or I quit.
00:00:23
Speaker
Shh. Three, two, one, go. Hello, episode 51. Hello. 51. There's a milestone after 50. We're over the hill.
00:00:35
Speaker
Over the hump? Over the hill.
Outdoor Space Challenges
00:00:37
Speaker
Could be a short episode this morning because it's my fault because I got all these crazy calls coming in. And I need to start my rant first, angry old Chinese guy. Sure. Because in my wife's infinite wisdom, when we bought this apartment,
00:00:53
Speaker
2017, new development. She decided she wanted outdoor space. Yes, I do know the outdoor space. You've seen it. i have. We have two outdoor spaces, actually. And then, and then she decided to hire this company called Blondies.
00:01:09
Speaker
i don't know. Which does garden stuff. Yeah. So they roll in with these massive planters and... I think each deck is like 100 square feet. Okay? So not quite massive, but okay, decent space. Right. They rolled in table, chairs, three planters on each side, shrubs, the whole bit.
00:01:28
Speaker
And then into COVID, I realized, fuckers, they're charging $800 to show up just before winter to blow air into the hose, right? That the irrigation hose that that waters everything. Yep. Turn off the water, which is like, wait, wait, wait. Right. The special wrench, which I can buy on Amazon.
00:01:50
Speaker
Yep. Blow air. Okay. That part I understand. Blow air through it. So it doesn't freeze, but whatever. hundred bucks. And I had watched them do it. and i was like, fuck dude. That was literally 90 seconds of work.
00:02:02
Speaker
Yeah. hundred bucks. Yeah. And then in spring, they do the same thing. Yeah. Turn the water back. ah Yeah. i'm Like, so in COVID, I was like, fuck yourselves. I'm doing it myself.
00:02:13
Speaker
i don't want to do this. Don't come back. And they try to be sneaky. Like one time they showed up and I got the doorman calling me like blondies is here. I'm like, why? i don't even work with him anymore. Oh, they're here to do that. but No, no, no, no, no. I told the guy, yeah I don't know what a scam is going on.
00:02:27
Speaker
You didn't book the appointment. I've already canceled this contract. Don't even try. Okay. But so now, that we don't use the outdoor space. I have two problems in the spring.
00:02:39
Speaker
One, weeds everywhere yeah and all the weird shit that grows because it's all in the air, the spores are in the air and they land in your planter and this weird shit starts growing. yep One.
00:02:51
Speaker
Two, because you don't use the space and the thing overgrows, pigeons. They're trying to find a, build a freaking nest. Yeah. Right. yeah And because we don't go out there, they think it's like an empty deck and they're starting to a nest. So I have to always get there before they lay the egg.
00:03:09
Speaker
Yeah. to disrupt them. Right. Because once the egg is there, i can't do shit. Right. No. And you shouldn't. You should just let it write run. Right. For four weeks. Yeah. But it's okay. Cause you're not, you said you're not using it anyway. I know. But then you got the cleanup.
00:03:21
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. somewhat toxic by the way. Yeah. you Pigeons and the dust and the feces and all that kind shit. That dust is toxic. Yeah. Can you hose it off from up there or is that illegal? You can hose it off. I mean, you hose it. Maybe we have a drain, right? it's a deck. You have a drain anything. But still, it's like it's a lot of extra. wayss Anyway, so so every day I'm vigilant. And I'm wait a second. I'm doing this shit while my wife, she chose this stuff. And now I'm the one doing the weeding and the and the pigeon defense. Sounds like marriage to me. Yeah. And I'm like, so this morning I got up. It's hot. It's freaking 90 degrees and and humid and the sun.
00:03:57
Speaker
Right. I got back from London a couple of days ago, tagging on my wife's business trip. She's still in Zurich and doing her thing. I'm like, mother fucker. I got the shears out. i wearing the gloves. I have to wear freaking mask because
Building Management Insights
00:04:09
Speaker
the all the stuff is toxic. The dust is toxic. And I'm like, so 40 minutes for the podcast, I'm like out there just doing all this work. I'm like, fuck this shit. So bad. so This is bullshit.
00:04:24
Speaker
It's because the jail that they're building that the pigeons don't have a place to nest. We didn't have this problem yeah on our deck until the jail construction started. Yeah, I can see that.
00:04:36
Speaker
It's also really noisy. And so they they tend to disperse from that area and find other places to go, especially during brooding season and nesting. So they keep coming back. Yeah. So every like hour, half an hour, I'm running back, opening the door, walking around in a circle to show them that a human is here and then come back in. And every time I go there, they're they're on the ledge and then they see me, they fly away.
00:04:58
Speaker
Yeah. yeah like And then there's remnants like they're bringing straw and all this shit and leaving it in the corner in a dark corner. And then I have to like shuffle it, but clean it up before they get too comfortable. Right. So here's a question.
00:05:11
Speaker
Yeah. And I know you're going to say no and you're going to tell me to go fuck myself. I'm like, why do you bring shit up that I'm never going to look at or do or whatever? hit me But have you ever have you ever thought about maybe putting like a brooding box or something out there so it's contained? Well, but think think of it this way.
00:05:32
Speaker
no You're not able to stop it. before it happens for the most part without a ton of maintenance, right? And a ton of time. Yeah. But if you like threw a brooding box or something in the corner of the deck, yeah like it would all be contained in one tiny space. It would have. No, no, no.
00:05:50
Speaker
I'm telling you, no, because I see pigeons nesting everywhere in our neighborhood and in people's like in the in the awnings, right? Of the different stores and everything. Yeah. And the thing that once they brood and they're there, they don't just like, if you could contain it to a box, I would agree with you. But you can't because then they start walking up and down the deck guarding the box. Yeah. And then they just shit everywhere. And so now your whole deck is there. And I've learned that pigeons have memory.
00:06:15
Speaker
Yeah, they do. They come back. Yeah. Oh, this is a safe nesting spot. We're going to come back next year or every six months when they have their mating season. right Yeah. All birds do that, though. So, okay, there you go. Yeah. My brother's having the, his problem is finches.
00:06:30
Speaker
oh okay. They like to nest in the tops of the columns on his property. i don't know. I'd be okay with the finch, I think. Oh, no, he says they crap everywhere, too. I mean, birds just say shit everywhere.
00:06:41
Speaker
Fair enough. That's what they do. So anyway, so like I'm just like, yeah I'm playing defense and happens this has happened multiple years now since the jail construction started. That was my morning, so I'm pissed. But then I had an epiphany. Oh, okay. Sort of. I was standing there with the hedges cutting everything down.
00:06:59
Speaker
Because part of the thing is like when there's the hedges overgrown and there's a dark spot, that's what they want to hide, right? Yeah, sure. Wait, so you still have planters out there with actual shrubs. They're still growing. There's shrubs out there. Okay. yeah Yeah. I haven't seen your outdoor space. I don't think I'm like, I'll send you a picture. Maybe never that'll be a podcast. A picture. But so now I'm cutting all the down the bushes to make them thinner. Yeah. Yeah.
00:07:22
Speaker
And ah I'm standing in the jail and I realized, and this is partly because I watched a Netflix special about Gordon Ramsay's supposedly amazing restaurants.
00:07:36
Speaker
at a place called Bishopsgate in London. It's on the 60th floor. It's taller than the Shard, if anyone knows, the Shangri-La Hotel at the Shard. You know, London's very flat, right? Post-war London is like, you know, five stories, six stories. All of a sudden you downtown and a few tall buildings.
00:07:53
Speaker
And I ate there. Side note, was a terrible meal. Not going to get into it. Oh, no. Yeah. Total horse shit. What a bummer. Yeah. A very expensive bad meal. Oh. From Gordon Ramsay. I should have given him the F-bomb treatment. That sucks. Like he does.
00:08:08
Speaker
But I was like, hang on a second. How do construction workers know what to do? I know it's a very broad statement, but like okay, they come in, you have engineering. i mean, it's so it's a high rise. You come in right? You know, when you build a house, you can sort of understand like, okay, you found it. You knock down the old house. The foundation goes in You have the architectural drawings.
00:08:32
Speaker
There's a couple of guys, a foreman. And a house is manageable. It's it's like, you know, if you're in a four bedroom house, 5,000 square feet, it's manageable. You see the wooden frame go up and, you know, the wiring, the insulation, and then you start filling it out. Okay. Right.
00:08:46
Speaker
Now you have this like 30 story skyscraper, let's say. Right. Yeah. And they do the foundation work like every other building. And and then the steel beams go up.
00:08:57
Speaker
But now I'm like, look at like I'm looking at, I don't know, five hundred, six hundred guys walking up and down this build, this frame. Right. Hammering away, drilling, blah, blah, blah, blah.
00:09:09
Speaker
And I was like, it's a bit of a management marvel. How do you know every guy is doing the job they're supposed to be doing? One. Two, who's telling that guy, hey, go hammer that shit in the corner? Yeah.
00:09:21
Speaker
Which is going to form the basis for the stability of a 30-story building. Right. um just like It kind of boggles the mind a little bit. I don't have a great answer. it know um I haven't ever really given that much thought, to be honest.
00:09:40
Speaker
I do have someone in the neighborhood who's a neighbor of mine. um Yeah. Who's a, I think he's a foreman, a project manager foreman. and I can always ask him, but I feel feel like there's a lot of certification for big building work that needs to happen, like OSHA and some other things. Yes, yes, yes. I think without those certifications, you're not allowed to work on anything above, ah ah you know, a certain number of stories. Yeah. Right. So like you don't need certifications to work on a house. Right. There's a ton of people who, you know, don't have those. Yeah.
00:10:11
Speaker
those classes who work on two or three story homes. Yeah. But for big buildings, I think there's a series of certs that you need to do order to qualify. I understand. Yeah. it' a quiet guess maybe I'm having, my mind is is is having trouble wrapping my, wrapping my head around.
00:10:29
Speaker
when you build a house, it's just a smaller scale, right? In the sense that, okay, today's foundation works. So the cement truck rolls in and the cement guys are just standing there and they have all the boards and they just kind of fill it in and they leave.
00:10:40
Speaker
Right. Right. and yeah And the, and the, like you said, the foreman, developer standing there, oh, fill that, fill that, but then stop there. Thank you very much. Get lost. Right. Right. And they do it every day. So they sort of know. And then and then you get to the wooden beams. And then, of course, the wooden beam come up. Insulation guy shows up. Electrician shows up. So everyone has their part in this whole symphony. Right. Yeah. Steps.
00:11:03
Speaker
I guess for me, it's like a building is so like ah a 30 story building is so complicated and so many moving parts, the cranes. Like all the people that like I just like, wow, like one guy in this corner, and something 30 feet away, another thing, the windows come in and like, holy shit. So anyway it's good for them.
00:11:24
Speaker
Obviously, that's why it costs so much money to build a building ah because there's a lot of work and organization. And I guess in a weird way, that's why some buildings collapse because those people didn't fucking do it properly um around the world.
00:11:39
Speaker
You see some of this shit happen, right? Right. Well, that's the whole thing, right? Like you step into a building and you just never know. Yeah. never go to the building again you just never know so that was a weird uh way to start between it's an interesting being angry about gardening it's an interesting jail being built wondering how the everyone knows what they're doing how was your morning oh You know, my morning was okay. That good? Yeah.
00:12:12
Speaker
You know, I have been spontaneously waking up for the past, oh shit I don't know, a week or so at about 5.30 in the morning. Oh, damn. 5 o'clock, between 5 and 5.30. Damn.
00:12:23
Speaker
damn And so, you know, oftentimes when... I get up spontaneously at that time in the morning. I just get up. Yeah. You know, because I figure if my body is, you know, if I'm waiting on my own, then I guess I'm fine. i get whatever Agreed.
00:12:40
Speaker
So, you know, today, today I turned over 530 in the morning and I was like, you know what? Fuck you. I turned back over and went back to sleep until my alarm clock went off.
00:12:52
Speaker
But it was, but it was clearly a mistake. Yeah. Because it has completely knocked my entire morning off of what I had going as like a really good schedule at 530. So yeah, I think I just have to get up at 530 in the morning.
00:13:07
Speaker
That's what I think. I walked dogs, ran into a friend in the park. I think if you don't feel tired, fuck it. That's what you get up is when you get up. But if you're worried about something and you're getting tired, then that's a bit different, right? Yeah, I think so. You're not worried about something.
00:13:21
Speaker
No, no. it wasn't It's not because my mind is overactive at 5.30 in the morning. I'm just getting up. And nothing's waking me. There's no noise outside. There's nothing happening in the house. I don't have dogs barking. like I don't have anything happening.
00:13:33
Speaker
I'm just waking up, like getting up for the day. Because I'm definitely late to bed and then get up early all the time, worried. Yeah. Are you worried? i'm I haven't had a good night's sleep since the kids were born in 2007. Let's put it that way. Yeah. i So I totally get that. And when the kids are out, i can't go to sleep. Like I can't fall asleep. I'm always worried about something. Yeah.
00:13:56
Speaker
I get that. that's I mean, but that's like a natural part of parenting. I think that just for a lot of people that comes with the territory. Not everybody. Not everybody. I tell every new new father I meet who's like expecting their first kid, I'm like, dude, you better sleep.
00:14:08
Speaker
You're never going another good night's sleep for the rest of your life. Totally. I mean, it was a boy or girl. That's it. You're done. Kiss it. Goodbye. And, you know, the whole adage about um sleep, nap when the baby naps. No shot. deep No. And oftentimes people don't do it. But, yeah yeah you know, in retrospect, looking back, I totally wish I had. Yeah. I know, but you always got stuff to do when there's another know, but think about how much you couldn't do before, right? Think about how exhausted I've been for 20 years. Yes, I know. As a mom, For sure. I should have napped when the baby napped.
00:14:41
Speaker
Totally. But in my brain, i was like, nope, got to do this, got to do that, got to do this. I got, oh, it's peace and quiet. I, you know, I can do Trying to be efficient, know. Nope, I should have slept. Should have. Should have slept.
00:14:55
Speaker
Shoulda, woulda, coulda. don't know. Whatever. Thankless job parenting. Yeah, thankless right.
Private Equity in Youth Sports
00:15:02
Speaker
My good buddy Ashley, who listens to the podcast and a few other people, actually has sent me the article.
00:15:12
Speaker
the The lefty Democrats, God bless them ah for trying. I don't think it's going to fly. Have have proposed the Let Kids Play Act.
00:15:25
Speaker
Let Kids Play Act. Is this about the transgender kids playing? No, no, no, no, no. This is about um banning private equity. Oh, yes, I saw that from owning any youth sports. Yeah.
00:15:38
Speaker
Yeah. I think that ball is already rolling so fast. Yeah. But I think it's hard to roll back but at this point. Yeah, I mean, like I said, God bless them. If it happens, it's too late for our kids anyways. Our kids have gone through the whole shit. And and it's gotten worse since our kids have left that sort of youth category of hockey, right? Yeah. In some senses. But the whole vertical integration by the infamous or notorious Black Bear. Well, you know, you saw the article about Black Bear. They've been sued. Yeah. Well, and you know what? And at some point, somebody was going to.
00:16:11
Speaker
I mean, listen, people like, okay. Generally vertical integration for most industries is cost efficient and a very good business model, right? Yeah.
00:16:24
Speaker
To get efficiencies. Yeah. Okay. And standardization. Sure. Right. But in this case, when you shit like, buy the rink, buy the teams, take people out who don't want to play ball with you, don't want to sign contracts. Hire all the employees, hire all the coaches. Then tell parents, like you and me, like you can't record.
00:16:45
Speaker
Well, you can't record. right Now they're telling you you can't record game, your own kid playing. right Under the guise of like you would need a waiver from everyone on the ice, so you can't do that. But if you pay us 20 bucks a month, you can watch our feed. Right. You can go on Black Bear TV and you can have everything you want from all of our rinks. Right.
00:17:02
Speaker
Thanks. And I think the line that they really fucked up, i mean, aside from state of play, you know, state of play. So come to our ice rink, be part of our team, buy our video feed, ah go to our tournaments, forced to be staying, stay to play in a hotel.
00:17:19
Speaker
And then, and then more importantly, penalizing teams. I think that's where they get fucked. Yeah. Because now it's anti-competitive in the sense that, Hey, you're not allowed to penalize people for choosing a competing hotel or program or whatever else it is, which what is is what they're doing.
00:17:37
Speaker
Right. Well, you know, they're penalizing you because you're, quote, breaking the rules. i'm Sure. But like up and down the chain, every industry in the world is like you cannot, especially in America. so so Part of the issue is like, okay, legislating is is impossible. going force some people to sell their their assets and then how you going to prevent it?
00:17:58
Speaker
the them The point is like I think the private equity guys, if they see a good business model, they just want to squeeze every last penny from paranoid parents. Even if this act passes, they'll just find a way around it in terms of the legal technicalities of like, okay, now it's private equity. but Now it's a public entity or now it's a listed entity. There are many, many different vehicles they can use to still affect the same damage right on youth sports.
00:18:24
Speaker
So I don't see it changing. What they really should go to the government with is antitrust. what Which is what they're trying to do is in these lawsuits. Right. But it could take 10 years. but if you had I know, but if you had a class action antitrust lawsuit that you can get not only the parents, coaches, but other ranks involved, yeah you would have a much bigger play. Right. What they're talking about is like this, like, it sounds petty. Right, right, right, right.
00:18:49
Speaker
Right? It sounds petty and it's it's not, I mean, technically speaking, i don't think it's illegal unless you go the monopoly route. ah Oh.
00:19:02
Speaker
Right? Because private equity, there were no rules in place saying private equity couldn't buy up this area of sport. Yeah. Right? The only rules, the only governmental rules in my in my view at this point concerning this are antitrust rules that would prevent it from happening. Yeah. I mean, ah ultimately, it's the whole forcing people to choose every option To pay money that leads back to you. Yeah, that's monopoly. That's antitrust. so So that's, yeah. But anyway, so I'd be interested to see how it happens and how it pans out. And at this point in time, I don't think, given the way politics are in this country, the Democrats aren't going to get any support from the Republicans, even though everyone is suffering. This is not a political issue. This is just like, guys, all kids are suffering. Well, and and because of that, they may actually be able to shake hands across the aisle. hope so. Because, you know, oftentimes when it comes to sport and kids, yeah you know, you do have some dissenters who generally will tow the party line. Right. Then sit there and go, nope, not on this one.
00:20:09
Speaker
you know yeah they're big enough to be able to say you know what this is wrong yeah and you know what my party may not be ah excited to be involved with this yeah so they kind of just you know vote party you know there are people who will be like no i'm not voting party line and this is this is more important because it involves all the kids i mean okay so on the one hand to me like this is a the bad part of america You know, I'm in finance is the private equity guys choosing this line to squeeze people. Yeah. Many of them are parents too, right? Yeah. Well, there because they what they're doing is they're preying on people. This is not business opportunity necessarily. They're preying on people. The flip side is I'm also glad because it's America.
00:20:49
Speaker
it only takes a couple of parents who are lawyers. Yeah. Launch this class action soon and say, fuck you guys. Yeah. we're doing this to our kids. Yeah. And God bless those people because they're trying to help all kids. Yeah.
00:20:59
Speaker
Yeah. You know, I just I just think that, you know, some things are better left untouched. Like not yeah everything needs to be changed. Not everything needs to be touched. Not everything needs to be monetized. Like literally. Yeah. Not everything in life needs to be monetized. Yeah.
00:21:16
Speaker
you know Leave some things alone. Just let things take their course. i mean And the whole thing about hockey you know generally is that it's become a rich person's sport anyway, which makes it even harder for equity guys to ignore it, right? Because they know, they know, yeah people who are in the know know how much money there is resting in this sport.
00:21:38
Speaker
Yep. And so, but again, you know, in order to go and capitalize on that opportunity, you're really screwing people over. Oh, and but but lacking so that's so that goes back to like, hey, USA Hockey wants the NDL thing, wants to control over the quality of of youth hockey and the development. i'm like That's fantastic. But again, it's like right it's short sighted. You want to do that. It's all encompassing. Right. It's like the youth program from when kids are six and start skating.
00:22:07
Speaker
Right. Yeah. All the way until like they're 16, 17, 18 and going to juniors but up and potentially going to the college or the better ones playing and NHL. And then along that path, guess what? There are facilities like the rinks and the programs and movement of kids and poaching of kids back and forth. like You need to control the entire process. That's why USA Hockey should really control all of it.
00:22:31
Speaker
And then it should be a 49% stake private equity, 51% stake USA Hockey. So there are people on a board who then make decisions, but USA Hockey owns USA Hockey like in its entirety as an umbrella. you know Private equity, like yeah you know the thing is, is like you know in order to maintain and keep open all of these spaces and all of these teams and all of this free-flowing, you need money.
00:22:57
Speaker
right You need backing. because like you know i have We have a friend who owns a juniors team okay yeah yeah and he's just like it's always in the red i was gonna say it's probably worst investment on the he's like it's terrible and he's out of love for the sport oh yeah he said the only reason he does it yeah is because how much he loves the sport and how he wants to be you know still touching it and be a part of it and have some kind of yeah positive influence he's like it's a fucking money loser all along the Owning a pro sports team. Not long ago, owning a pro sports team was a billionaire's pet project. It loses money. yeah I want to win. I want to hang out with the cool people, kids. Yeah. Right. But I know I'm losing money. Yeah. I like that's how Robert Kraft started with it.
00:23:42
Speaker
Yeah. Now, of course, with private equity. Yeah. Everybody's making billions from their original investment. Right. And that, you know, obviously there was a different angle to any who's. Yeah. Actually, it's really interesting that you should say that because there was there was this fucking guy like just this fucking guy. Fucking guy. made this video on tiktok about how like there aren't even any jewish players in the nba and the nfl and yet all the owners are jewish and they make all the money off quiet of go and backs and blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
00:24:17
Speaker
Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Making get it racist. Well, it was totally racist, number one. and But number two, I looked at it and I was like, are you stupid? Yes, the owners make a lot of money, but these guys are getting paid millions and millions of dollars to play a fucking game. They play a game. Exactly. Like when you distill it down, like through all the work, and I'm not saying they don't work hard.
00:24:41
Speaker
That is not what I'm saying. They work hard, but they play a game. No, no, but the racist thing would be all Jewish owners only draft Jewish players. Yeah. and but And then everyone else who's non-Jewish get the fuck up. But that's not happening, right? Well, no, he was- Jewish and you're rich and you own the team and then you hire all these other races of people, like whatever, right? Well, he was inferring like slavery is what was inferring.
00:25:07
Speaker
Jesus. You know, like Jewish supremacism, you know, as the owners ride the backs of the goyim who work for them. NBA players are billionaires now. Well, that's what I'm saying. NFL players and NBA players make a lot of money. yeah It's not like they're slaved.
00:25:22
Speaker
They're not enslaved. They play a game and they make millions. same argument about the music industry and the entertainment industry as well? Like, hey, it's all the Jewish guys, power players. Nope. Just double down on sports. like Just sports.
00:25:33
Speaker
Nope. Just went. He went straight to the NBA, I think, mostly because of the fact that they're in playoffs right now. Nice. Yeah. Okay. But I'm just like, this is ridiculous. Not helpful. No.
00:25:44
Speaker
No. By the way, by the way, we're getting some weird AI emails. Yeah. emails Oh, yay. i love this for us. Maybe you haven't checked our email box. No, because I don't think i have the password for the email. And they're probably listening to episode, too. But we get we keep getting these, like, offers to interview people.
00:26:00
Speaker
One was a food guy. One is in some other, I forgot what it different people from different walks of life. that And their agents are saying, hey, interview them, my person. And and they're just grabbing onto it. Because, you know, our podcast is so random. So random. It's so random. literally just talk. we'll get this latest one about like food. and we because i ba Because we spoke about one thing, one little nugget of food. And now it's like, hey, the CEO of a food company. you dream that And I know it's AI. This is bullshit. There's no way a human reads this thing.
00:26:31
Speaker
sends out the promo, like the lead generation email to us saying, hey guys, I listened to your podcast and I love how Francis said this thing talking about left coaster. That was the last email. Oh, funny, really? And and food and you should interview this guy. I'm what the fuck? Like, talk about a stretch. That's so funny though. And i was like, no, we're not responding to this shit. Sorry guys for listening again. We're not responding to you.
00:26:54
Speaker
Are you serious? First of all, we don't interview people. If you listen to our podcast, you go, they don't interview people. Right. Right. That's one. Two, clearly we don't give a shit about how popular becomes because it's just for our friends. That's right.
00:27:08
Speaker
Right? Yep. And so like, I don't know. It's entertaining to read those emails. ah You should go into our email box and read them once in a while. Yeah. And then just like, okay, roll the eyes and then we're moving on.
00:27:21
Speaker
That's kind of funny though. so But hi to AI bots today. It's all the popularity we weren't looking for. Totally. Totally. Like, oh, good. we're AI is fan. Jessica should run for mayor or on a bet and then do all the stupid shit to lose. And then suddenly she's the mayor.
00:27:37
Speaker
Right? You got elected. You won. Seriously, right? i mean, God, if Mom Donnie can get elected. Oh, my God. Anybody can. Big time. All right. You had this other, what, the other person? she oh So have you heard of Jackson Cover?
00:27:54
Speaker
How did I get from Jackson cover to Schaefer? No, I have not. Tell me. So Jackson cover is like first phase draft, first round pick for ah for NHL.
00:28:10
Speaker
Like a top 10 first round. Yeah. He's like, no, I think he's mid first round. But okay but his story is fascinating because he's from Grand Cayman.
00:28:22
Speaker
And the reason I thought to bring this up is because you guys love Grand Cayman and I love Grand Cayman. is he skating in Grand Cayman? So there wasn't a hockey rink. He was a roller player.
00:28:34
Speaker
shit. He was a roller hockey player. And oh through like he used to go to Florida. I forgot the name of the town. It's like Escovito or... okay Acero, something like that, where they have these um roller hockey tournaments. We have a friend whose kids play.
00:28:53
Speaker
okay they And they they basically, they know him. Like one of them knows him from playing with him at these tournaments. And he did not play ice hockey except for maybe one or two weeks of camp yep when he was young. I don't think until his 14s year. Okay.
00:29:10
Speaker
okay Four years later, love it he's in the first, he's he's a top pick for the first round. I mean, first of all, that's a true talent, right? So you can't hide that. You love these stories because like the odds are against you. It's kind of like the PK Subban family story too, where his parents are from Fiji. They moved to Toronto.
00:29:29
Speaker
They have three boys. yeah nobody know The parents don't to skate, but they're in Canada. And all of a sudden, you've got three sons in the NHL, right? Yeah, crazy. It's kind of like that. If you are a talented player, as an athlete, let's say all-arounder, you will find your sport and find your way totally to the highest levels.
00:29:48
Speaker
Congrats. that's an amazing i love that so that's ah That's an amazing story. Congrats to him. So the boys, he and his brother were born in Florida because of pregnancy complications, but raised in Grand Cayman.
00:29:59
Speaker
okay And their mom is from Grand Cayman and their dad is originally from Ontario, but they met in school and then they moved down to Grand Cayman. No, no, no. But but the thing but they i tell I'm telling you, he spent one or two weeks every summer going to like skate on where Noah used to go, right? Because he used to live there and play roller. like He didn't play hockey okay until his U14 year. And then he didn't know any of the rules. like He didn't know what an offside is because they don't have it in roller hockey, right? There's like all of these like big learning curve things that he needed to catch up on.
00:30:32
Speaker
Which is kind of a crazy ass story if you think about it because yeah I'm wrong. it's the he's got He's projected to go in either round one or round two. Okay. But he's unbelievable. And so after his U14 year, like he ended up going to St. Andrews at some point and he played out his high school career at St. Andrews.
00:30:50
Speaker
Nice. And he's he's unbelievable. He's got hands, man. First of all, it's like there's... In every story like that, there's Canadian influence somewhere. Yeah, but but that again, you know, ah not raised. Understood. Understood. And I don't think his father played, actually. Yeah, but like. It doesn't say anything in this article about his dad playing hockey, the It's like how people look at New York kids and they walk around. Like my wife will go around and my son plays hockey and people the fuck?
00:31:19
Speaker
why does all your husbands from Canada know there's always yeah they were all roller skaters but they were for them I love that yeah they were all roller skaters and apparently it says Patrick got heavily involved in ball hockey on the island when he arrived because he wanted to play himself yeah yeah yeah so they would go roller skating on Saturdays he and his wife Nan Okay. And so when Patrick and his rec teammates started having children, they started a program together. It grew to about 125 kids age three to 16. Love it. Jaden and Jackson started in their learn to roller skate program when they were three. And Jackson, who always picked up everything so quickly, was motivated first by wanting to outdo his big brother.
00:31:55
Speaker
Yeah, so can look clearly athletic family. it's in they They have that core. I mean, you need that you can you can't hide that. you like these All these pro athletes, whatever. You have this core talent of being a pro athlete yeah whatever for whatever it is whatever is you do. And then um you get the hockey bug.
00:32:13
Speaker
And if you're also, so I mean, you know remember remember those Harvard camps we used to go to? And like the Northeastern coach would say like if you have one skill, you'd be a really good triple a player and if you have two really amazing skills you might play college and you have three or four you're going to the show right right right right so i always tell like other parents with the kids like hey listen like if your kid can skate in hockey that's yeah an amazing trait to have yeah right the rest you can learn if you really can't skate i don't care how smart you are you're not going that far because you got to skate right but let's say you you're a good skater and then and if you have the hockey iq some kids right you see it like what the fuck Yeah. They just know. that kids There are some kids that stick handle that little heavy ball their entire lives and still like have hands of stone. Yeah. And then there are kids who are just like, what? Like Conor McDavid, like what?
00:33:00
Speaker
Yeah. Like how does that even happen? Their hands are so quick and so smooth and you can't, even though I don't believe that, even in the 10,000 hours like theory, I don't think so. At some point you need to have that innate talent. Yeah.
00:33:16
Speaker
Well, at 10,000 hours, you learn how to do it. Right. I mean, Malcolm Gladwell said, you know, i think he used the word expert yes in that framing. Yeah. But if, you know, if you don't have raw talent at 10,000 hours, you learn how to do it and you'd learn how to do it well.
00:33:32
Speaker
Right. But you don't necessarily learn how to do it exceptionally well. Yes. Right. So there's, you know, there's there's definitely variables in there. But I mean, 10,000 hours is a lot of time.
00:33:44
Speaker
oh my dude i've done the math hang on let's it i've done the math was like that's like what 10 or 12 years or no maybe even 20 years ago okay let's hear it let's hear but obsessively like i know if you did 10 just like do the math 10 000 hours right divided by 24 hours in a day let's just say okay that's 416 days
00:34:09
Speaker
in your lifetime. Straight through. Straight through. Right? Okay. So now it's- No breaks. No breaks. Not doing anything else. Now we'll we'll like multiply back up again. like Okay. Let's say, let's say you're only, if you're a a crazy, crazy obsessive kid about anything, four hours a day, every day for you to do that. Right? Yeah. So now this is like full 24 hours, four hours for hours a day, so times six. Right?
00:34:35
Speaker
That's 2,500 days that you have to do Now divided Four hours a day every day. Now divided by 365. 365. That's basically seven years of your life if you could devote four hours every day. Every single day. yeah Every single day for seven years. really It's going happen. Yeah. Because you've got all day, you've school, blah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah. So double that again. Right. On the two hours a You're now at 14 years.
00:34:59
Speaker
fourteen years Correct. your life. Holy shit. Right. No way. It's insane. I know. Crazy.
00:35:10
Speaker
Crazy. so would make some people expert sleepers. It would. it would. I wonder how discouraging some people would find that math.
00:35:23
Speaker
Just sheer fact, sheer number. Let me tell you. Right? Because, I mean, if you think about it, if you really think about it, yeah you'd have to start really young to become that proficient than at anything.
00:35:34
Speaker
And so if you take up something later on in life, right, and you want to get really good at it, yeah you know, do you find it discouraging that the math itself for, you know, for absolute proficiency is it presents a really, really hard Well, guess if you're that talented, let's say if you've given a God-given, universe-given talent, you're obviously shortcutting the process, right?
00:35:58
Speaker
Yeah. Well, you're able to undercut the process. Yeah. Right. Okay. So that's where that, that's where that, like, you hear all the time, like, oh, this athlete, college athlete was playing baseball for their whole life and then got into college second year and decided to do rowing. Like, what?
00:36:11
Speaker
And won a medal. I mean. Those are crazy stories way. Those are crazy, crazy stories. right but they exist um and there's awesome stories to hear and then yeah and then there are ones that like i've been no one can outwork me i've been shooting pucks for four hours a day every day since i was five you're like holy shit like okay good for you you deserve that success right to be that like you your parents can nag you to do it for the first five or six years but by the time you're like 11 12 That's got to be your passion.
00:36:42
Speaker
Nobody can nag you. And we've seen it firsthand between the other friends. Right. You can't nag a kid to go out and do whatever is they need to do. Run five miles a day, shoot pucks, whatever, with lift weights. Right. Eat properly, build muscle. like that's That's you yeah as a person, right? Yep.
00:37:03
Speaker
Which is part of the reason why... A lot of finance, like hedge fund guys, we they're outwardly they oh, we hire athletes. Why hire athletes from college? Well, because an athlete in college has definitely lost way more than they've won.
00:37:17
Speaker
And every time they lose, they pick themselves up and they train and they optimistically think they're going to win the next time. Right. Right. And so that's life.
00:37:30
Speaker
And so in business and hedge fund land, we want those people who are disciplined, know how to train, know how to pick themselves up and dust themselves off after a loot after a loss, a big loss and come back to work the next day and try again.
00:37:45
Speaker
Yeah. You would hope that most people would want those kinds of people. Yeah, but but you know most industries as side always but the other side is like a hyper-competitive person is not always a good person to work with. That's true.
00:37:58
Speaker
That is true. Some of them are kind of toxic. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's that's very true. right Which is why a good player doesn't always think good coach. Mind you, Marty St. Louis.
00:38:10
Speaker
Marty. Holy shit. Marty St. Louis. I know an NHL player, but I'm like, guys, four years ago, four years ago, five years ago, four years ago, four years ago,
Basketball Economics
00:38:22
Speaker
he was coaching peewee fucking hockey mid Fairfield on the ice next to my son and his team CJR. Right. And it's like,
00:38:33
Speaker
Congrats to him and that ja the youngest team in the NHL for getting this far. I kind of hope they go all the way. Yeah, that would be interesting. What a story that would be. Yeah. I mean, that game was insane. i But I went to bed. I was so tired because I'm getting up at 5 o'clock in the morning. like I was falling asleep on the couch even though it was so exciting.
00:38:50
Speaker
It was kind of a shitty ending, though, to be honest, because it wasn't even that that great of a shot. I should have been save time and those nothing like time again. come on but And that's why he threw his helmet down the fucking hallway, man. When tired when you're tired yeah and you make bad decisions. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is what happens. Yeah. and I mean, it's been a great week for professional sports. I mean, the Knicks game last night was unbelievable. I had the same thing happen to me. Like, overtime comes 20 minutes. I'm like, I can't make 20 minutes. Okay. like you so Have you followed basketball, like, avidly the last few years?
00:39:21
Speaker
No. I don't fall at all. I don't make a claim to do that. I just, i like, during playoff time, I get, like, my interest peaks. Okay. And then, like, I don't do regular season. did the Knicks get so good? I need to know. This guy Bronson.
00:39:32
Speaker
Jalen Bronson is the guy. That's it. And you know he listens to Bieber before he goes out. I heard he was. Okay. But my thing is, did the Knicks. Love Bieber. draft him and develop him? Did they buy him and trade him from another team? He's clearly always been a superstar and he's carrying the team, but I don't remember hearing the Knicks being good.
00:39:53
Speaker
I haven't been good since Patrick Ewing. Okay, right. So all of a sudden they're good. Yeah, and but it's it's definitely Jalen Brunson. But I don't i don't know what his what his journey was to get to the Knicks. I just don't know enough.
00:40:08
Speaker
I mean, this morning, I see all these kids with their Knicks jerseys on in our building going to school. like Yeah, well, because you know what? It's like finally you got a home team who's winning. Yeah. Think about it. like All of our other teams are sucking. They're all sucking. They're all owned by the same guys.
00:40:24
Speaker
right. And they're all sucking. So, you know, you finally get one New York team. Everybody's going out and buying and representing. Yeah. You know, I mean, it's. That's incredible. And it's great. Honestly, it's great. i i think I think having that kind of morale boost in the city right now is an amazing thing.
00:40:43
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I'm going to have to look up after this call, after our recording, look at this guy's history. Because because the last thing I remember about basketball, which is why i sort of, i've never was never into it, but I stopped watching it.
00:40:55
Speaker
almost permanently to a certain extent, because when LeBron was winning everything, I just recall in basketball, and I'm sorry everybody, don't yell don't yell at me if I got this wrong. I feel like in basketball, there's no salary cap.
00:41:14
Speaker
But there is a luxury tax. Yeah. so Okay. So unlike hockey, $75 million, your team's got to fit in it. You can't go over and pay tax because you're a rich owner. It's like in basketball, there's a cap.
00:41:27
Speaker
But if you go over it and you're willing to spend it, there's a massive, massive luxury tax, which you pay and it goes to spread to all the other teams. Okay. But that means you can buy championships. So I do recall when LeBron was was winning and other guys were coming up and winning.
00:41:43
Speaker
Every year, these guys would move teams, get a massive paycheck from some new owner, and that team would go in and win the championship next year. And it's like, okay, great. I know you still played well and amazing, but you're you're able to put together super teams, which you can't do in hockey. You probably can't do it in football. right It's too hard, which is why yeah i guess the last, i mean whens when's the last true hoey dynasty I don't know, Oilers, Islanders in the 80s? feel like Islanders in the eighty s Yeah, in the 80s. When you can win four or five in a row. Yeah, I mean, I don't know of any other team actually off the top of my head that's done that since in my lifetime.
00:42:25
Speaker
I think... Maybe two in a row is max. Like like Florida did it, obviously in recent history, but other teams have done it. Chicago. Nobody's done five in a row like the like Islanders. Does Chicago do three in five years with what's-his-face? Patrick Kane and... I don't know.
00:42:40
Speaker
Maybe? but yeah know You don't hear about hockey anymore because you just can't. Right? Because you spend all this money on the top line. Right. And then you're out of money for everybody else and you can't win with one line. or Look at Edmonton Oilers. Edmonton Oilers have maxed out there their cap.
00:42:55
Speaker
They're underpaying McDavid. And the reason why they can't win last two years, and this year they got thwarted, is because they don't spend their goalie, which arguably is the most important position.
00:43:09
Speaker
Everyone else is spending $6 million to $8 million, whatever, on a goalie. They spend $800 grand or a million. was like, what? I couldn't believe it. I saw it. I was like, there's no way you're going win. You can't keep McDavid. He's going leave. You can't win any Stanley Cup, or forget Stanley Cup, conference championship, without a really amazing, amazing goalie. Yeah, that's true. I mean, but that's, you know, the goal is the end stop for everything, right? Like, yeah.
00:43:37
Speaker
So the Knicks are good, everybody. Go follow, right? When they're down 15, 20 points yesterday and then came all way back to force OT and then they won by like 20 points, some shit like that. Some weird swing. Yeah.
00:43:50
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. It was crazy. It was a lot of points. Damn. It was a lot. he played By the way, he played for Villanova in college. Really? And he's born and raised in New Brunswick, New Jersey. i think born in New Brunswick, maybe not raised in New Brunswick. Married to his high school sweetheart.
00:44:06
Speaker
Good for him. Yeah. What a story. Seemingly like an all-around good guy. i love it. maybe Yeah. played for He was drafted by the Dallas Mavs and played for them for like four years. But I mean, you could do a deeper dive for sure.
00:44:19
Speaker
yeah. I want to see his story because... Yeah, it's kind of it is a sport, right? It is that kind of a sport like Steph Curry on his guys like LeBron's like you can have one player the most like amazing player. Yeah, and win, right? Yeah, 100% you don't need five or seven of them. No I guess soccer is like that, right? If you have a really good soccer team, you need the the most amazing striker and everybody needs to feed the ball to the guy. Yeah, and he scores all the goals. Yeah,
00:44:52
Speaker
Because if you play defense in soccer, you can't score a goal. There's no way you're going that far up the field. You're in the backfield. yeah I actually i don't know a lot about soccer. I'm not even going to pretend to know because I really don't.
00:45:04
Speaker
You know, and and like I, you know, I look at the World Cup coming. Yeah. um and Not interested. No, I'm not. i mean, know, the final. Right. Well, maybe I'll catch, you know, I said to Eric, I said, you know, maybe I'll catch fever by the time it gets here. But I'm not excited for it to come here. Yeah, yeah. I'm actually dreading it.
00:45:22
Speaker
Yeah. You know, it's like I feel like it's going to steal away all my peace. Sounds like it's going to be a, but like but it sounds like from the hotel bookings. And from the price tickets and everything, it's going to be a bust. like You're not going to get that surge of people.
00:45:35
Speaker
I don't know. i think I think it doesn't happen with enough frequency to think that people would not spend money on it. Right, right, right, right. You know, I mean, we have friends who are going to Mexico City to watch the World Cup. Oh, shit. Oh, yeah. Real fans. Oh, I mean, and I wouldn't... You know what? To be fair, I don't know that they're real fans. I just think that there are people who just want Like, it happens so infrequently as compared to other sporting events that when it does happen and it's all over the place, it gives you an opportunity to travel somewhere and be in Have you seen the prices? Yeah. Like, for a family of four to go to one game, might be, like, $3,000 to $5,000.
00:46:06
Speaker
three to five thousand dollars and um those aren't like... center field row five yeah that's in the nosebleeders yeah the but like you know for for a family who has soccer players yeah you know and or a family who are big soccer fans that make sense because i wouldn't spend that on stanley cup tickets for my son either sorry Well, but I'm just saying because it it doesn't happen every year. Okay.
00:46:28
Speaker
That's all I'm saying. I'm saying that I feel like it's it's it's something that, you know, doesn't come at every moon's rotation, right? So it's like yeah when it does happen, know, it's like a concert from someone that hasn't toured in a really long time who's maybe going to die sooner than later.
00:46:46
Speaker
You know, it's like an opportunity. Yeah. And you, you know, tend to, I think human nature is to tend to double down on those opportunities rather than let them pass. I feel like a lot of FOMO happens too. yeah If you're missing out, I got to do it. I got to do it. yeah So they go and they, they do it.
00:47:02
Speaker
That's true. I mean, I'm not one of those people that way. No, not with soccer. anyway I mean, you might get me with some other things, but definitely not with soccer.
00:47:13
Speaker
um Oh, shit. and know um I might as well bust up Gordon Ramsay for like two minutes. Do it. Whatever. I'm not fan anyway. He has a Netflix special. He talks about Bishop's Gate. In the first season, he's talking about Lucky Cat and the opening and preparing of the restaurant. And I know it's a big financial bet from Great. Congrats. And I love Gordon Ramsay.
00:47:40
Speaker
The other restaurant in that rooftop thing is called Bread Street Kitchen and it's more of like a modern whatever i don't even call it. West is a Western European menu with some Asian influence, I think here and there. um But it's it's got a rooftop and la blah and so you come into the office building and you go up and you go security and and and like seven you go to seven greeters, which is awesome when you sit down and then give us view from the 59th floor. he's like Oh, awesome, awesome, awesome.
00:48:09
Speaker
I didn't realize, and this will be part of the reason, I didn't realize the restaurant was only open for a week when we got the table. So like, hey, how do i get a table at a restaurant that's only been open for a week?
00:48:21
Speaker
Okay, fine, whatever. We get there. And it was just like, Man, for a guy who goes on TV and yells at people about all their shitty restaurants and how they operate. I'm like, dude, 100th restaurant opening for him.
00:48:38
Speaker
And we sit down and like the servers, he's like pushing like three dishes on us. I'm like, no, I appreciate the suggestion. to order something else. He looks visibly upset. Then we order sparkling water. It's lukewarm.
00:48:49
Speaker
And it doesn't get poured. He opens the bottle. i And leaves it on the table for you? and then I'm fucking pouring it. i order a second bottle, same thing. And it's lukewarm. Doesn't bring ice.
00:49:01
Speaker
Oh, my God. And then where we're seated where we're seated in that area, every time the food comes out for our section, you know, they have that big tray. comes out.
00:49:13
Speaker
Yeah. And I'm sitting there. We're watching four guys argue for the two hours that we were there, argue and discuss where each dish is supposed to go and who ordered what.
00:49:26
Speaker
So that's annoying. Yeah, that is stupid. And then. He's just a bad server, I think. No, no, i no. But he was like attentive. It's weird, attentive, but not maybe not trained well.
00:49:38
Speaker
I don't know, but like just all this shit went wrong. And then, so we order, and ah and I was like, okay, i you know we're here let's order a good dish. I order this main, which is like a tiger prawn.
00:49:49
Speaker
Why? It's 55 pounds. Not weight, okay? The cost. Oh. 55 pounds. Tiger prawns are 55 pounds? That is an $80 dish. It's a mutant tiger prawn.
00:50:03
Speaker
$80 dish, Jessica. Yeah. Okay? It's one prawn. It's basically done in three bites. sides. No sides. $80. Well, how is it cooked? I want to know what an $80 single is. Oh, maybe that's going to be our picture. That's going to be our picture for episode. It's a split down the middle, so it's open. Open face, can call it open.
00:50:29
Speaker
And it's got some ah it's got garlic slices And they're using that sort of, um you know, in New York when you order th spring rolls and they have that sort of semi-sweet sauce with the chili peppers. and yeah the chili sauce. Yeah. Yeah.
00:50:46
Speaker
They throw that on there. chili sauce. Yeah. Yeah. They throw that on there and they just grill it. Here you go. we and And you decided that that was a good idea to have it, to to order it? Well, rather than ordering, okay, by the way, rather than ordering a steak, which was priced at 34 pounds per four ounces. Wow.
00:51:08
Speaker
Do the math, people. Wow. A typical steak is 14 ounces. Wow. Wow. But what kind of, what is a holy cow? Tomahawk, whatever bullshit. Okay. But still, so what? So I'm like, I'm like, you're going order a 14 ounce steak times 34. That's $476. I'm sorry, pound which is $500. Wow.
00:51:30
Speaker
how steak which is five hundred dollars No, it's pounds times 1.35. It's a $642. Oh, I'm sorry. i was under i was undercutting the price. And I'm like, what the fuck? No sides.
00:51:47
Speaker
You don't get shit with that. You got to order the sides. Dude, it's like a it's like a food mafia. It's like a racket. I don't know. What the hell? And then, and then, piece de resistance. Oh, Jesus Christ.
00:52:04
Speaker
The bill comes. It's London, right? Normally you don't tip in London. The price is the price. People round up, right? Yeah. We get the bill and the bill says 15% optional service charge.
00:52:18
Speaker
Okay. And we're from New York. We understand tipping. People tip here 25, 30, whatever percent. with Yeah. 15%. not an egregious number per se. Right. But it says optional.
00:52:29
Speaker
Yeah. Cool. That would be on top of like whatever's embedded in the bill. Yeah. Here's my credit card. And they bring and in Europe, they bring the terminal to you. So you just tap it, right? Yeah. Okay. But you know, in America, not doing that. When they bring the terminal and tap it, you tap the underlying subtotal. And then there's like presets. Options. 15%, 20% or custom. You can do whatever you want, right? Yeah.
00:52:49
Speaker
No, no, no. So 15% optional service charge. They come out. They bring the terminal to me. i tap it. Thank you very much. And you're done. you're like, ah so what if I wanted to give more?
00:53:01
Speaker
want to get less. You actually have to tell them before and to change the bill and then bring it back with the new amount and then tap your card. Oh, my God. Because it's one tap and go.
00:53:14
Speaker
skin fucking gordon ramsay that's scamming us man take that ai take that somebody forward to him and like you know what i will do it for free and come back to your restaurant and tell you all the things you need to change to fix this thing to make it worth several hundred pounds a head when you're done with that dinner Yeah, that sounds like it wouldn't be a place for me.
00:53:40
Speaker
I mean, it'd be starving. i mean, I don't, I'm a pescatarian. hope they get better. Tiger prawn. Yeah, I'm sure they'll get better. But like, ah you and same with Elaine's salmon. She orders the grilled salmon and it's like a salmon steak in the middle of a plate with a couple of like microgreens.
00:53:56
Speaker
Uh... How is that cooked? That's just grilled. Jesus. Oh, my God. I'm like, what's so special about this? And then and and my starter was like this sweet corn with crab meat. So they you know they they bring the bowl, the crab, the snow crab meat's in the middle. Yeah, sure. And then they pour the, you know, the common thing, they pour the soup out of the kettle. Right.
00:54:15
Speaker
Around. And I don't know what that was. Like, I think there was like 20, 25 pounds. and And I was like, fuck you, dude. I can go down the street to the Vietnamese restaurant and get the exact same dish for like seven pounds. Totally. What the fuck? And it more probably. so I guess to me, the other thing was like the menu didn't seem that inventive or original either.
00:54:35
Speaker
Right. Yeah. I don't know. It's like it's your hundredth restaurant. You just slap together. Your business manager slaps together a formula, puts your name on it, puts on the 59th floor with a view. Boom. And you expect it to sell out. Oh, sorry.
00:54:47
Speaker
Wait, there's more. Oh, gosh. As we end this we get before we get to the dad jokes, there's more. When you come into the restaurant, you get all the greeters and there's great fanfare. When you leave the restaurant,
00:54:59
Speaker
It's like the freight entrance. So you come down the 50, 60, 59 stories. You exit, the arrow says exit this way. It's just white walls. It's the freight entrance of the building. You have to go down three flights of stairs.
00:55:13
Speaker
So they kick your ass out, basically. And you get exited out the side of the building into this alley. You're like, what the fuck just happened? Like, you don't want me to come back? I mean, normally in most restaurants, you leave through the door. They don't want you to come back because once you leave, you know you've been suckered. You're just going to tell everybody else. They better change this. Maybe they're afraid of people coming back and going postal.
00:55:37
Speaker
I don't know. That was the craziest. That's what would scare me. meal in a long time that I've had. Yeah. That was disappointing. I think i think I'd hate it But that's, I think I'd like the crab soup thing.
00:55:49
Speaker
It was, that actually not bad. be so resentful about a single tiger prawn though because that's all I would eat. You want the hot soup. It's very lukewarm. Yeah, no, i don't want that done. Yeah. Like a lukewarm bisque. I think you need to decide whether it's hot or cold, but there's no middle when it comes to that kind of a thing. It's either a vichyssois, right? Or gazpacho. Or something that's like a normal soup. It's got to be one or the other.
00:56:13
Speaker
yeah Otherwise, it just seems indecisive. Yeah. But outside of that, London was good. good I walked everywhere. it was like, I, there's one day on Friday I walked from like, anyone knows that Regent street near Hyde park all the way back to the city, which is downtown. Yeah. That's like three miles. Yep. It'll be an hour. Yeah. I was like, if you're not rushing for a meeting,
00:56:35
Speaker
was like, yeah, pretty good. Oh yeah. I know. Yeah. I like the heart, the Hyde park area a lot. Yeah. So I did like, uh, in my quest to be healthy, I did 10 and a half miles that day. Nice work. 23,000 steps. Like, Oh, I was proud of myself. like Nice job.
00:56:51
Speaker
Nice job. I had a day like that here last week. did Yeah. Yeah. More steps though. But not hot. Hopefully it was not that day. no No, it wasn't terrible. It was warm, you know, nice. It was nice out.
00:57:03
Speaker
Oh, good. I think I hit almost 26,000 steps. Damn. Yeah, and i showed I showed Eric and I was like, dude, check this out. and He was like, oh my God. Because 26,000 steps is like a day at Disney World, by the way. Yeah.
00:57:17
Speaker
Oh, it was a lot. It's a lot. My legs, my calves are sore. Yeah. like Yeah. It's a lot. I empathize with you. i get it. I've been there. Yeah. It's a lot. Yeah. Back hurts at the end of the day. You're just kind of like, okay, there's a lot of upright time.
00:57:30
Speaker
oh I mean, And like, I'll carry my golf bag and walk for four hours, right? On a golf course. But you're starting and stopping. But you're starting, right. But you're starting and stopping. And unless it's a hilly course, you don't really feel it. yeah I felt it. Yeah. After that London day.
00:57:44
Speaker
um All right, then. Since I got to go in a minute. Yes. Let's go with some more wordplay, shall we? We will try. Jessica, Frances, Silver. yeah What do you call a factory that makes okay products?
00:58:02
Speaker
Not great products, but okay products.
00:58:09
Speaker
This is a warm-up for you. Okay. The ones that you've gotten in the last few weeks, which are impressive, this is a warm-up appetizer for you. This is the sweet the Gordon Ramsay sweet corn and crab soup.
00:58:22
Speaker
I'm fixated on it. Makes okay products. What you call a factory that makes okay products? ah satisfactory yeah ah a satisfactory very good very good don't have to find some harder one these are like for 10 year olds pa but it suits me because it still takes a i feel like I need a better warm okay or something then you'll love this one then you'll love this one okay why is it a bad idea to iron your four leaf clover oh my god
00:58:57
Speaker
Why is it a bad idea to iron your four leaf clover?
00:59:07
Speaker
Why is it a bad idea to iron your four leaf clover? Come on. People are shouting at you. They're shouting their answers in their car right now doing laundry. Because because you should not.
00:59:21
Speaker
It's coming. It's on the tip of your tongue. Press your luck. Don't let me buzz you. I'm just kidding. You got it. So rude. I was like, wait, really? Because you shouldn't press your luck. People, that's a good one.
00:59:34
Speaker
Why is it a bad idea to iron your four-leaf clover? Because you shouldn't press your luck. You're two for two. Yeah. One more. Bonus. The bonus round where you win absolutely nothing. I give pride.
00:59:51
Speaker
Okay. I think this is like too easy for you, but that's the kind of friend I am. I appreciate it. What do you call a beehive with no exit?
01:00:04
Speaker
What do you call a beehive with no exit?
01:00:11
Speaker
Beehive with no exit. Actually, it kind of tough. I think about it. Too bad. What do you call a beehive? With no exit.
01:00:23
Speaker
Hmm. Yeah. Unbelievable. Jesus Christ. I like it. but I would have never i would have ever gone in that direction. I know. She'll get it easy. Unbelievable. I would never go in that direction. and that is That is like behind me. That's a little unfair. Yeah, no, it's fine. It's fine.
01:00:49
Speaker
That's fine. Two for three. Two out of three is okay. Two for three. Not bad. Not bad. yeah Not bad. It's all right. I'll take it. All right. You're traveling. Enjoy your travels. I am not traveling until next week.
01:01:00
Speaker
Oh, it's next week now? I thought it was later this weekend. No, no, no. It's the next weekend. This weekend's Memorial Day weekend. Yes, that's right. Which is always weird because it feels like it's early because of the dates. It's going to rainy. going to be raining. It's going to be rainy and cold.
01:01:13
Speaker
Yeah, but I think people will still go to their destinations anyway. Yeah. Are you going anywhere? I am going up to Westport, but not for the whole weekend. Okay.
01:01:24
Speaker
Yeah. they Westport, Connecticut.
Family Visits and Personal Time
01:01:26
Speaker
For one night. Yeah. But before the weekend. Nice. Yeah. Beautiful. Yeah. I'm going to go spend some time with my family alone. Okay. Oh, good.
01:01:34
Speaker
Wait. Spend time with your family alone? Yeah. Meaning I'm not bringing my family with me. I'm just going by myself. Oh, yeah. Even better. Yeah. Yeah. Just for a night. Just to like have dinner and hang out for a little while. and Yeah. You know, that's it.
01:01:49
Speaker
Nothing. No big deal. Recharge. Yeah. No big deal at all. Just some quality time with my ah my brother and his family. Good. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. thank you Awesome.
01:02:02
Speaker
Well, stay warm and dry. Thank you. I'm going to try. Yeah. Awesome. Okay, everybody. Time to roll. Thank you for listening as usual. And we look forward to more
Humor and Farewell
01:02:13
Speaker
AI emails. Yes, please. just wear I want it about crab corn and soup.
01:02:18
Speaker
That's it. it like that she swa I want an email about vichyssois. I want hate from Gordon Ramsay. Come on, hit us up. That would be fun. That would be so awesome. Yeah, that would be really good. That would be well worth it for sure.
01:02:30
Speaker
i just want to observe. I don't even need to be involved in that. and get the kid I just want to watch. yeah bomb me Why not? Okay. All right. See you later, everybody. All right.
01:02:40
Speaker
Bye. Well, well, well, you made it to the end. We can't thank you enough for listening to all of our random thoughts. Don't forget to give us a five-star rating.
01:02:51
Speaker
And you know how to reach us on the gram at TGSpod or send email to hello at thegrocerystick.com.