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The Reasonably Enthused Podcast
6 Plays7 days ago
Reasonably Enthused is your go-to podcast for a lively mix of current events, trivia, candid reviews, and light-hearted rants, all wrapped up in the humorous musings of two hosts who wish they’d always said the right thing the first time around.
Transcript
Intro
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:12
Keith Carnes
Hello, welcome to the Reasonably Enthused podcast, your go-to podcast for a lively mix of current events, trivia, candid reviews, and lighthearted rants, all wrapped up in the humorous musings of your two hosts who wish they'd always said the right thing the first time around.
00:00:30
Keith Carnes
Hi, I'm Keith, and this...
00:00:33
Sara
And I'm Sarah.
00:00:36
Keith Carnes
Good afternoon, Sarah. How are you doing today?
00:00:40
Sara
You know, I'm here. i'm I'm here. I'm reasonably enthused about this. Not many other things in this current climate, but I'm i'm okay. I'm okay. Yeah, we're here. We showed up for this.
The Podcast's Origin Story
00:00:51
Sara
Get this dream off the ground.
00:00:51
Keith Carnes
what we did show up. um I like the idea of referring it to referring to it as a dream that we're trying to get off the ground. um And along those lines, why don't we kick things off by trying to explain to the folks who are either watching this or listening to this, um what that dream really is.
00:01:17
Sara
Oh, i great. I guess that means it's my turn. So um I don't know. We've known each other for years and years since we were kids. um Kind of drift apart as everybody does when you're doing your thing. ah And thank God for internet because, you know, here we are and going strong for several years. And we have had some really hilarious and weird and serious chats about about life and work, ah the the politics of it all.
00:01:46
Sara
ah The parenting of it all, the friendship, the coping, the clinging to goodness and times of weirdness of it all. And we were like, oh, somebody said we should do this.
00:01:54
Keith Carnes
Mm-hmm.
00:01:58
Sara
Maybe it was me. Maybe it was you. If it turns out good, it was definitely me. Okay.
00:02:03
Keith Carnes
Yeah, there's a debate. um I'm willing to give you, if this thing takes off, I'm willing to give you a majority of the credit on on that and on pushing us to get to where we are today.
00:02:05
Sara
Yeah.
Creating a Safe Space for Conversations
00:02:15
Keith Carnes
But yeah, it is amazing. The internet gets blamed for a lot of things in this day and age and online presence kind of gets you know blamed for a lot.
00:02:26
Keith Carnes
And rightfully so. But the one thing it does do is it can kind of reconnect folks. And I think in our case, that definitely worked to our advantage, ah because otherwise, I don't think we'd be here.
00:02:41
Sara
I think that's true. I think that's true. And, you know, we've, ah how many times have we said we should have recorded that because how many people would hit on that subject?
00:02:52
Sara
You know, it's kind of good to know that when you're out trying to remain reasonably enthused about life in general, work, family,
00:03:00
Keith Carnes
Mm-hmm.
00:03:01
Sara
parenting, you know, ah in my case, doddering, wifing, in your case, ah well, just whatever you do, Keith. um I'm just like, wouldn't it be nice if people just understood that they're not alone and there is a ah safe space for um everyone, but, you know, Republicans.
00:03:23
Keith Carnes
there's a there There is a safe place for them as well, let's be fair.
00:03:23
Sara
Didn't even catch it.
00:03:28
Keith Carnes
But um let's let's not try to exclude folks quite yet, ah even though we both candidly believe in the right for individuals to individual. um I don't know if that makes sense, but that's kind of how it popped up in my head.
00:03:51
Keith Carnes
ah We believe in allowing people to be their true authentic selves. And that is growing to be more difficult, it feels like, on a daily and weekly basis right now. So we will get into that, I'm sure, as topics arise and then we talk about current events and the things happening in the world around us that are intersecting with us.
00:04:18
Keith Carnes
our, you know, endeavors, but also ah things that are relevant to a lot of the people who will be watching and listening to this podcast.
00:04:28
Sara
Yes, I love how your first instruction, in fact, maybe your only instruction, don't alienate anyone. And the first thing Sarah does, I'm not alienate. No. You know what?
00:04:39
Keith Carnes
Well,
00:04:39
Sara
going to real quick on that, though. The only thing that's actually worse than not having the same feelings as as someone completely opposite directions is seeing some of your friends change from being a part of a party that's good and valid.
00:04:57
Sara
um And then thinking that you you must feel the win because now I'm one of you.
00:05:01
Keith Carnes
Yeah.
00:05:02
Sara
No, I didn't want that. That's not what I asked for. you know So having said that, I really do want people to be themselves and respect their choices.
00:05:06
Keith Carnes
yeah
00:05:11
Sara
I just would like them to be respectable choices. That's all. That's where I'm at.
00:05:16
Keith Carnes
Yeah, I agree. i would also like to return to a time where you as an individual are more than the hat you choose to wear on your head. And i remember when we were younger, both of us have been around the block a few times.
00:05:32
Keith Carnes
um And I do remember a time
00:05:35
Keith Carnes
where
00:05:35
Sara
In what sense, Keith?
00:05:39
Sara
That is awfully sketchy.
Media and Personal Identity
00:05:41
Sara
I mean, a woman doesn't do well when people introduce her. and Sorry. You're going to have to edit that
00:05:48
Keith Carnes
I said nothing. i said nothing except for, and there will be no editing out. Um, I said nothing other than, uh, we've seen some stuff.
00:05:54
Sara
out.
00:05:58
Keith Carnes
Uh, we've, we've been around long enough to see some stuff.
00:05:59
Sara
Yeah, that's that.
00:06:02
Keith Carnes
And I do remember a time where you were more than, you know, your specific affiliations, uh, whatever those affiliations might be. um
00:06:11
Sara
God, there were times we didn't even talk about that crap.
00:06:13
Keith Carnes
Yeah, a lot of times that was behind closed doors kind of thing. But I do think that the way that the media landscape has changed over the last 20 to 30 years has definitely brought us to where we are today.
00:06:18
Sara
ah
00:06:26
Keith Carnes
Whether you think that's good, whether you think that's bad, whether you think it's something in the middle, here we are. It's the reality that we're operating in, and now we have to figure our way through it.
00:06:37
Sara
Fair.
00:06:39
Keith Carnes
So we've started to touch on things about
Sarah's Personal and Professional Journey
00:06:45
Keith Carnes
ourselves. And so maybe this would be a great opportunity for us to launch into um giving a brief bio about um for ourselves and I pulled up a few interesting random questions that I sent over to Sarah to consider um adding um so that our viewers and listeners can get to know us a little bit better so do you want to kick that off Sarah where or would you like me to
00:07:17
Sara
You know, I'll do it. I'll start. So I am ah um'm a writer for many, many years. My first book was published in 1999. I um have a radio and television background.
00:07:28
Sara
And for years, I hawked items in fine quality wares for three flex pays on the Home Shopping Network. And it's been it's been fun.
00:07:37
Keith Carnes
Oh.
00:07:38
Sara
Most notably, I have portrayed um many, many, many many dead people in crime reenactments. Apparently I have an uncanny ability to look like I'm not breathing.
00:07:52
Sara
am so good at it. I, um, I was, uh, married, divorced, um, got some great kids, um, remarried and I'm living that life in Naples, Florida,
00:08:06
Sara
And um having ah i'm in a pretty good time, still writing. um I had to laugh because one of the questions was, you know, what's your favorite hobby? And the hobby is is also the job. It's writing.
00:08:17
Sara
It's the thing that I wanted to do consistently throughout my life.
00:08:17
Keith Carnes
Mm-hmm.
00:08:21
Sara
um I've stayed pretty consistent. That was my dream job. It's my hobby. And and I continue to do that to this day. I have ah three really super insane dogs to a rescues. One I selected.
00:08:35
Sara
Only the selected one is worth a crap. The other two are complete and total heathens, but that's the way we do. that's That's what lesbians do, Keith. We adopt lots of dogs. And um currently one of them is ah is just freshly bathed and stinking like a wet dog in these fine podcast studios.
00:08:54
Sara
As for my dream job, do more of this. I want to do more of this. I would like to do this with you. i would like other people to be able to do, ah the creative work that we do, with a certain level of acceptance that I don't think is actually traditionally available in, uh, in mainstream publishing. I just, I think people need more encouragement and acceptance and that's where I'm at. Something I've craved for a long time in that regard.
00:09:23
Sara
Here I am. um Yeah, I try to get eight hours of sleep at a night. i tro my My biggest strength is that I have a lot of compassion. My biggest weakness is probably that I have a lot of compassion.
00:09:37
Sara
um And um all things Taylor Swift. Brother, peace out. Your turn.
00:09:46
Keith Carnes
ah Well, you know, if we can get this Swifty audience on our side to become part of the community, then we're set. We are Yeah, so...
00:09:55
Sara
don't you Don't you use us, Keith. Don't you use us. Because we don't put up with that.
00:09:58
Keith Carnes
yeah so
00:10:01
Sara
I never miss a beat. I'm lightning on my feet. That's what people see. Uh-huh.
00:10:07
Keith Carnes
Oh no.
00:10:07
Sara
That's what people see.
00:10:09
Keith Carnes
i promise everyone who's listening right now that I will try to keep Sarah from quoting too many Taylor songs, but, um, I'm not, I'm I'm not sure.
00:10:09
Sara
Uh-huh.
00:10:18
Sara
I love you. It's ruining my life.
00:10:22
Keith Carnes
i'm not sure how successful I'll be at that, but I'll try.
Keith's Background and Career Shift
00:10:26
Sara
going to have to go chapel roan on you and say, good luck, babe.
00:10:26
Keith Carnes
um Oh, oh, oh boy.
00:10:29
Sara
Go on.
00:10:31
Keith Carnes
You are definitely bringing that specific um ah ah category to this podcast. So I'll rely on you heavily.
00:10:39
Sara
It's called immaturity, Keith. All right. It's the thing that's keeping me alive right now, buddy.
00:10:45
Keith Carnes
I don't think it's immature. i just think it's a place where my teenage daughter would be more appropriate to comment and contribute in those areas.
00:10:48
Sara
It's fun.
00:10:57
Sara
Hey, I just sent you a little text message.
00:10:57
Keith Carnes
So I'm going
00:10:59
Sara
It's me flipping you off because it's inappropriate on a podcast. Okay, send.
00:11:03
Keith Carnes
Okay. All right.
00:11:04
Sara
Go on now.
00:11:05
Keith Carnes
Good. Good. Well, guess that's my cue to introduce myself. um So, hi, I'm Keith. I grew up in a small town, rural Iowa, as did Sarah, and then ah escaped eventually to the suburbs of St. Louis, ah then moved to Illinois and finally over to Arizona, where I've been for the last, what I believe 28 29 years, somewhere in that ballpark,
00:11:36
Keith Carnes
um I did the whole college grad school thing in the Midwest, finishing with all kinds of paper to hang on the wall in the areas of psychology, sociology, human resources and management, which, you know, i spent 30 years utilizing. So it did pay ah pay off for me.
00:11:59
Keith Carnes
I spent those 30 years largely going from one Fortune 500 company to another, doing my thing. ah joined Intel, spent about a decade there, and then learned a ton and moved on.
00:12:13
Keith Carnes
I expanded my professional exposure to additional industries that included government, education, ah big data, pharmaceuticals, and banking.
00:12:27
Keith Carnes
over over the following two decades after I left Intel. I became the father to a remarkable daughter ah who now is in her teenage years.
00:12:38
Keith Carnes
And she vacillates.
00:12:39
Sara
fine
00:12:40
Keith Carnes
Yeah. Oh, it's it's awesome. She vacillates between um teaching me what's cool and wanting to disown me. So that's, I am told is normal.
00:12:51
Sara
That's not teenage hun, that's just women. that's just women
00:12:56
Keith Carnes
Okay. All right. Well, um I am just rolling with the punches on that and and trying not to mess up too frequently. And I think I'm doing okay. ah Depends on the day you ask me.
00:13:11
Keith Carnes
um so as of bow Eight months, seven months ago, i stepped away from my ah corporate, people say nine to five. I laugh every time they say that. It was more, you know, seven to seven on a good day.
00:13:36
Keith Carnes
But now i am ah looking at a whole boatload of side hustle projects that are now main hustle because and don't have a main hustle.
00:13:48
Keith Carnes
At this point, I have decided to pursue all of those projects. and see what becomes of them. And I think this this here, this podcast is one of those things I'm excited about. So um let's hope this takes off in the way that we would like it to do.
00:14:08
Keith Carnes
But i still do consulting. i am writing. um and that's another thing that I have been passionate about, but not... have not had the um time to dedicate to it.
00:14:23
Keith Carnes
And now I do. And now I actually have to do it because I don't have the excuses anymore that I'm basically you know putting in 50 to 60 hours a week in a corporate ah gig. ah So I need to find my focus and double down and and really get that done.
00:14:41
Keith Carnes
um I have traveled a ton over the last three decades, seeing much of the globe and looking for interesting people that I could connect with and absorb their unique perspectives and listen to them and learn from them.
00:14:59
Keith Carnes
um And that has been a large part of why I stayed in that corporate space for as long as I did, because I was given that opportunity and I was basically using it for my own personal gain as well as you know for doing the work for whatever company I was with at the time.
00:15:17
Keith Carnes
I have a healthy obsession with the holidays and finding joy in the little things on a daily basis in the environment that we're currently in that becomes...
00:15:31
Keith Carnes
increasingly difficult, but it is something that I'm still focused on and concerned
Impact of the Pandemic on Education and Resilience
00:15:37
Keith Carnes
with. And I do love the holidays and I've got projects ramping up that are very specific to focus on the holidays um that at some point down the road, I might, you know, be in a place to make an announcement or two on this very podcast.
00:15:53
Keith Carnes
ah So that's exciting to me. And i at the end of the day, I'm still trying to figure out what want to be when I grow up. And I think that that that sums up ah where where my head is at.
00:16:03
Sara
That's fair.
00:16:08
Keith Carnes
ah Now is a time for me to try to realize some of those hopes and dreams that I've been you know stowing away for all these years.
00:16:20
Keith Carnes
And I think that this podcast and this enterprise with you, Sarah, is ah one of the pieces to that particular puzzle. And I'm really excited to be here.
00:16:32
Sara
God, that's really, um i should have let you go first. I would have tried to copy a lot of that, except for all the smart stuff and the paper stuff and all that. um No, I would say that um when we were trying to decide exactly what we would even call this podcast, it is matter of trying to remain reasonably enthused about just anything that's worth bringing ah joy or interest, maybe even just a smile or a laugh.
00:17:01
Sara
um Because it all counts. It really, really does. And um so that really resonated. I believe that was ah out of your brain pan that I was instantly like, that's that's definitely going to happen, you know.
00:17:16
Sara
um I've been listening to podcasts. I have to say probably ah since the pandemic, during the pandemic, I went back to school to take ah pre-law and honestly thought that I was going to become a human rights attorney.
00:17:32
Sara
um And then unfortunately, you get to learn so much about it that you... If you're doubting the impact you can make before you do it, maybe you're best just not being in that room.
00:17:43
Keith Carnes
Hmm.
00:17:46
Sara
um I have a large, you know, I would say an expanded knowledge base experience of of human rights law. Certainly not an expert, but i you know it it causes you to be more disturbed and and it's disturbing. These are disturbing times. And so um you know absolutely, I am prepping for Christmas in July. i hate to sound like the Hallmark Channel, but that's That's where I'm at, you know, and and if I, you know, i love ah very funny living in Florida that I love fall.
00:18:15
Keith Carnes
Yeah.
00:18:20
Sara
um This is not like more about me, but I was mostly at that time listening to a lot of podcasts that were, you know, ah true crime and and like almost bordering ghost stories.
00:18:36
Sara
um I don't want to say for fun. I want to say that when people can actually take things that are that can be used as cautionary tales and they make them funny,
00:18:48
Sara
or inject some ah some some connection there or some humor.
00:18:48
Keith Carnes
Yeah.
00:18:53
Sara
It's well done. That's what I say. um I'm speaking specifically of true crime obsessed and morbid podcasts. I mean, these people are always going to have my heart. I grow in and out of them, but I'm right there with them, right there. a lot of politics I listen to now.
00:19:08
Sara
I take it easy. I go back. I listen to my TCO, my morbid girls. I got it. Yeah. So ah getting back into writing a little more solidly now, because I think that pandemic kind of messed everybody up a little bit.
00:19:16
Keith Carnes
yeah
00:19:25
Sara
I do.
00:19:26
Keith Carnes
Yeah, it did. Especially having a teenager that lived through it and seeing what happened there. um i could see firsthand I could see firsthand what it was doing to um the social structure that kids and teenagers specifically, um it's so important to them in the formation of their um kind of personal identity and trying to come to grips with who they are and
00:19:34
Sara
That is rough.
00:19:57
Keith Carnes
ah where they want to like point themselves for the first you know adult leg of their life, for the first you know however long that is, five, seven, ten years.
00:20:09
Sara
Sure.
00:20:10
Keith Carnes
And the pandemic really caused a glitch, I think, in that. And over there the last year or so, I've read plenty of research that has been correlated and hypotheses that have been thrown out there based on observational data. We truly won't know the real impact for years to come, right?
00:20:34
Keith Carnes
But...
00:20:34
Sara
Oh, that's true. I mean, physically and psychologically, I'm anxious to see how this social puzzle all comes together. Do you think that young people take better care of themselves now as a result of this?
00:20:43
Keith Carnes
Yeah. Yeah.
00:20:47
Sara
Or do you think that they're more of the YOLO mindset? You have the youngest.
00:20:52
Keith Carnes
i think I think it's hard to say. um i do think that our kids are resilient. And as Gen Xers, you and i we like to, you know, pride ourselves with our resiliency because of how we were brought up, which was largely, has largely been described as feral um by by many.
00:21:06
Sara
Yeah.
00:21:17
Sara
yeah yeah
00:21:19
Keith Carnes
um ah And there's a lot of truth to that. But I saw a different type of resiliency in my daughter and her friends group as as they were going through the pandemic.
00:21:31
Keith Carnes
And I think that it's important to give them their props, if you will. on how they've handled it.
00:21:38
Sara
Mm-hmm.
00:21:40
Keith Carnes
So I think that the biggest concern that seems to exist is the education side, because I do believe that there was a couple of years there where ah the...
00:21:55
Keith Carnes
The reins were loosened pretty significantly in order to not further exasperate the situation and stress people out in a already very stressful time.
00:22:06
Keith Carnes
So I think that there was a couple of years of knowledge acquisition that was potentially um hindered by what was happening.
00:22:18
Keith Carnes
I do think that because we live in an era where a lot of times kids are using FaceTime or, you know, know, video conferencing of whatever type, I can't keep up with all the different apps that, you know, come out to cater to that particular segment, but they're there, you know, a time.
00:22:37
Sara
I think it's still a lot of Snapchat, honestly.
00:22:40
Keith Carnes
yeah Yeah, you're probably right. um
00:22:43
Sara
Yeah.
00:22:43
Keith Carnes
and so there was already a culture of that. And so them moving into the pandemic and lockdown ah was probably easier for them than it was for their parents, who were not necessarily...
00:22:58
Sara
I mean, let's face it. They did kind of rock And honestly, the parents did too. The parents, the teachers... If we're focusing on the stuff that's been done right during strange times, you guys were killing it.
00:23:13
Sara
All right. Um, the signs and the yards and the, the graduations, the cyber ceremonies, um, you know, people were doing the best they could.
00:23:25
Sara
I gotta tell you, forced people fork in the road, get creative. Uh, you did, you guys rose to the occasion.
00:23:31
Keith Carnes
Hmm.
00:23:34
Sara
Um, My, you know, um my both my kids were in healthcare, so I was dealing with a different kind of having kids during the pandemic. They were both young adults and they were, and one was a paramedic, um ah advanced care paramedic, I think is what, I'm sorry that I don't know, but they changed the description.
00:23:55
Sara
And, um, and my daughter, um, of course, leave it to her while she was flipping through all these specialties she was doing in St. Petersburg. Basically what happened was she was recruited to become a travel nurse because one of her specialties was respiratory therapy.
00:24:10
Sara
So, um, she went to all the bad places and, It was a nightmare going to bed. Your son is going and getting strange people with ailments out of their homes, um defying all, you know, breaking all sorts of boundaries there.
00:24:26
Sara
And, you know, your daughter is, is going directly in and helping people FaceTime for the last time. um I'm not even trying to make light of this. It's something that I've tried to come to terms with myself. um That is also heartbreaking. it was so terrifying.
00:24:43
Sara
But while, My daughter would say, i need to move. I would fly sometimes one of two passengers on an airplane.
00:24:48
Keith Carnes
Thank you.
00:24:51
Sara
And I would go because i wanted to accompany her from ah from Spokane to ah to you know Oregon to California. to i mean, all over.
00:25:04
Sara
I wanted to be with her. It's very, very lonely. The um national parks were open. for people who were first responders.
00:25:16
Sara
And I've got to see some things that up close and personal, an unfair look at some beautiful things during that time. And honestly, I met ah far from afar a lot of parents who had just taken their kids on the road to let them see the United States during this time because they thought it'd be at least as good of an education.
00:25:43
Sara
I mean, everybody did their own thing. None of it was exactly the same. And i mean, i want to cry when I think about some of it, the effort of having to stay home and work with your kid in the next room and do it.
00:25:57
Sara
You, you know, you did that people who took their kids out and look for an internet signal while traveling in an Airstream trailer.
00:25:59
Keith Carnes
hu
00:26:04
Sara
They did that. These are things, these are times you can't do again. Thank God. Knock wood, let's try not to. um And you have to look at how people handled this. You guys rose.
00:26:18
Sara
All right, there, I'm off that soapbox.
00:26:21
Keith Carnes
Yeah, we did pretty sure was...
00:26:26
Keith Carnes
was fired by the public school system on a couple of occasions because ah many of us were thrust into becoming the part-time teachers of our kids.
00:26:39
Sara
All the best were fired. All the best have been fired.
00:26:40
Keith Carnes
And yeah, yeah. Well then, then I must be among the amongst the best because I'm pretty sure if they could fire me, they would have. ah I only was able to find solace in the fact that that I was one amongst probably, you know, hundreds, if not thousands of parents who were in the same situation who also would have been fired.
00:27:08
Keith Carnes
that is So when I talk about the two years of educational limbo, I'm at the center of that and am partially responsible for whether my daughter knows the correct math equations or or not um in those things.
00:27:26
Sara
Yeah, but we got chat GTP for that now, okay? I mean, chill. Just chill, Pops.
00:27:30
Keith Carnes
but that is That is fair there, and I'm sure we'll talk about that in episodes to come, but there is so much that we kind of think of as baseline ah expectations that is changing so quickly. It can be hard to to keep up with it.
00:27:50
Keith Carnes
I would not want to be an educator right now um having to deal with the fact that um Artificial intelligence, AI programs, ChatGPT, Claude, Google Gemini, all of them are largely changing the game. um And I got to be honest, if I was a kid, I'd be using them too.
00:28:13
Keith Carnes
um So I'm not going to take a moral high ground here. But I will say... It has to be really, really tough being an educator right now and trying to figure out how to navigate ah this ever-evolving world that's changing so quickly that it's really, really hard to keep up.
00:28:30
Keith Carnes
um So I guess that's that's my piece on that. So kudos to all of the teachers and all the educators, all the professors out there.
00:28:38
Sara
for real.
00:28:41
Keith Carnes
who are, um you know, doing the Lord's work, as they say, ah trying to figure out how to
00:28:51
Keith Carnes
do it, you know, teach our kids.
00:28:53
Sara
Navigate these tricky times. Yeah. You have to worry about so many things, everything from safety to content to how do we know if they're really learning anything?
00:28:55
Keith Carnes
but
00:29:01
Sara
And I guess the quick answer is we just don't.
Future of Education and Job Market
00:29:04
Sara
We just don't. I think it's really important. And you and I have talked about this before more than ever. I think it's important That people allow their kids when they graduate high school.
00:29:14
Sara
And when I say allow, I mean, they're 18 as a rule. So technically, whatever. But um I would in encourage kids to take a second thought about the higher education.
00:29:27
Sara
Um, you take a look around at the landscape, working it for a year or so, see what's, what's going on.
00:29:27
Keith Carnes
Mm-hmm.
00:29:33
Sara
You know, it's not the same. We got to get off kids' backs about going to school. Um, we've got to reevaluate how much, uh, how much, you know, how many kudos we assign to trades and,
00:29:49
Sara
Got to think about apprenticeships, all of this stuff all over again. um Because we have to, because a lot of kids are in the place right now where they may rent for the rest of their lives. They may rent with with roommates, um you know, and so they're still out there busting through these these old ideas. You must have a house. You must settle down. You must go to college.
00:30:15
Sara
None of those things are must anymore.
00:30:18
Keith Carnes
Yeah, no, it's...
00:30:19
Sara
And they're, you know, anything that they lost with the social during the pandemic, perhaps they're redeeming in other ways, learning to live with people, people you may or may not know, learning to problem solve, learning to to budget, learning how to be happy with less.
00:30:36
Sara
um And of course, I'm speaking of less money, you know, know.
00:30:41
Sara
I just don't even know what to say. I've seen so many ah you know examples of creativity with young people that I'm just impressed all over again. It lights my fire to see people creative.
00:30:55
Keith Carnes
Yeah, I think that there is a societal norm that has to shift to piggyback off of something you said. I've had plenty of conversations over the last year or two.
00:31:06
Keith Carnes
I tend to be ahead of the curve when it comes to ah reading the tea leaves and understanding where we are going. And in the last team that I led ah at the bank where I was for the last five years, for the last two or three years, I've been having the conversation about the importance of understanding, especially a lot of us had younger kids um who were moving into their teen years at the time.
00:31:34
Keith Carnes
And we had plenty of conversations ah about this idea that a lot of the entry-level and even mid-level roles that have existed for a a long period of time, for as long as we can remember in our lifetimes, will no longer be there.
00:31:50
Keith Carnes
Those will be eaten up by automation using you know so um some type of large language model, some type of ai tool,
00:32:02
Keith Carnes
And so I think it's important to go into it with eyes wide open, knowing that you should probably be picking something where there's going to be a job waiting for you or that you have the chance to to get based off of you know how good you've gotten at what it is you do.
00:32:27
Sara
Oh, I have a good question.
00:32:27
Keith Carnes
And everything and i do think a lot of lot of roles are going to be eaten up and won't be there ah because corporations are looking to not have to pay out that money and put that money back on the bottom line.
00:32:42
Keith Carnes
And that's a whole other topic that you know is a burr under my skin. um But we'll get to that, I'm sure, somewhere down the road.
00:32:50
Sara
I need to know. have a question. This is Q&A right now. I just decided that. ah My question for you is, so when young parents are establishing these college savings accounts, lots of times they'll prepay college ah for the universities. And that has a little bit of sliding around ability.
00:33:08
Sara
But the prepaid, um but as far as an investment, for a college savings. Now, if people elect not to go, you know, those, I don't know how they're working right now, but I've been over a few of those. And I know that those dollars can be used only for education.
00:33:26
Sara
So maybe we should be investing otherwise and hand over the money at age 25 or something.
00:33:27
Keith Carnes
ah
00:33:33
Sara
They can buy a house, put a down payment on a house instead or thoughts.
00:33:39
Keith Carnes
Yeah, I think the rules have changed, actually, um on that. And I would have to research it.
00:33:44
Sara
ab
00:33:45
Keith Carnes
I don't know it right off ah the top of my head. But I believe those are 529s that you're talking about is they the yeah the number.
00:33:53
Sara
That is what I was speaking
00:33:56
Keith Carnes
And it's my understanding that if the beneficiary of 529 chooses not to go to college, that they can... um
00:34:08
Keith Carnes
the person who has set up that account for the beneficiary can change um the beneficiary or take what I think they call is a non-qualified withdrawal.
00:34:25
Keith Carnes
And then if you do that, it works the same way as an investment account for retirement.
00:34:34
Sara
So you pay income taxes.
00:34:34
Keith Carnes
Non-qualification. Yeah, well, you you pay income taxes, but you also would pay 10% penalty on that money. I think that's a, don't don't quote me on that, but I believe a few years ago, there was some changes to that program, because a lot of people were in the exact scenario that you described, where
00:34:44
Sara
Got it.
00:34:56
Sara
Yeah, we were locked into an old program. We have basically now reassigned those monies to Mary's grandchildren because that was the only thing that was an option for us.
00:35:07
Keith Carnes
Yeah, so change...
00:35:08
Sara
I mean, I'd like to reassign it to a bathroom model remodel, but you know, whatever. happen
00:35:16
Keith Carnes
Well, I do think that if you were to decide that the bathroom was, you know, a higher priority, um you...
00:35:23
Sara
I was talking about your bathroom.
00:35:23
Keith Carnes
Again...
00:35:25
Sara
You're always complaining about wanting to remodel your bathroom.
00:35:29
Keith Carnes
Yeah, no
00:35:29
Sara
But if you don't want me to remodel your bathroom, that's fine. I have great taste. You're you're lost.
00:35:32
Keith Carnes
i will I will let you, it's going to require a complete demo, by the way. So we're not
00:35:39
Sara
I don't know how much is in that fund.
00:35:42
Keith Carnes
we're we're not talking paint here. We're talking, you know, everything has to, you know, basically come down and start from the studs out. um But anyway, ah don't quote me on that, but I do believe um yeah you can you can Google it, of course, 529.
00:36:00
Keith Carnes
But if my memory serves me correctly, you can now make ah pull that money back out. You just get penalized for doing so.
00:36:08
Sara
Okay. Good.
00:36:11
Keith Carnes
So I don't know how this became a financial podcast. We are not.
00:36:15
Sara
Well, you are the financial guy though. So from time to time, I am going to have those types of questions because it's the stuff I ask you in real life. And this is pretty much an irl
00:36:26
Keith Carnes
All the degree areas I rattled off earlier when I was kind of doing my bio, I believe none of them were a finance degree. So, okay.
00:36:38
Sara
I have a minor in crime race and racism.
00:36:38
Keith Carnes
All right.
00:36:40
Sara
So hit me with those.
00:36:42
Keith Carnes
Okay. all right um
00:36:43
Sara
As a white girl, I try to understand what I can. I understand that I don't understand and I can't.
00:36:48
Keith Carnes
I just want people to know, don't start sending, you know, financial questions other than those that require common sense. I can do common sense most of the time. Yeah,
00:37:00
Sara
I think he's, he's good on it. Whatever.
00:37:03
Keith Carnes
yeah I just, this is this is to basically create a shield ah from liability. I am not, this is not professional advice. So please do not take it as such.
00:37:15
Keith Carnes
um And that goes for this entire podcast, by the way.
00:37:18
Sara
Oh God, no, I wouldn't listen to anything I say.
00:37:22
Keith Carnes
Well, I want you to listen.
00:37:22
Sara
Please.
00:37:24
Keith Carnes
Please, listeners, viewers, listen, watch, like, subscribe, ah send it to all your friends and family.
00:37:24
Sara
but
00:37:32
Keith Carnes
but ah so But as it pertains to financial advice and other types of things, we will always try to make sure to throw out that disclaimer. We are giving you the best information we have based off of our personal experiences and the skills that we have acquired.
00:37:49
Keith Carnes
over time, but we are not necessarily professionals in our in all those areas.
00:37:57
Sara
I am a professional in some areas.
00:38:01
Keith Carnes
I can ah i i can attest to that.
00:38:04
Sara
Or at least I think I am.
00:38:06
Keith Carnes
I, before, before I lose it, by the way, i had ah sent all those questions to you.
00:38:06
Sara
So.
00:38:11
Keith Carnes
I answered a few of them that I didn't really touch on. um And I want to make sure I get to them because I did put, I did do my homework um
Keith's Personal Interests
00:38:19
Sara
Oh.
00:38:19
Keith Carnes
on, on ah telling folks about myself and I'll just pick a cherry pick a couple of questions.
00:38:28
Keith Carnes
Do I have any pets? Cause I didn't touch on that. I do. i have a tabby cat named Simon. um And on any given day, he's the reason I stay sane. ah But he has his moments where...
00:38:41
Sara
I have heard you curse that cat.
00:38:43
Keith Carnes
I would like to occasionally adopt him out temporarily to someone else. But he is a ah snuggler.
00:38:55
Keith Carnes
He loves ah contact. He's not one of those cats that you see, you know, once a week. He is my shadow on most days. And sometimes that can be um challenging to me.
00:39:07
Sara
He's not just mailing it in like some of those asshole cats, huh?
00:39:11
Keith Carnes
Yeah. yeah
00:39:12
Sara
ah Good on you, Simon. Cheers.
00:39:14
Keith Carnes
um I would like to comment on how you said your hobby was basically what you do for a living. And ah that is extremely admirable as ah as a writer.
00:39:23
Sara
well
00:39:24
Keith Carnes
I think that's amazing. and i am i
00:39:26
Sara
I do like to paint walls and no one's ever given me any credit for that. I got to tell you, I love to paint walls.
00:39:31
Keith Carnes
Okay. So that's a hobby, I guess. i I'm i'm in my 50s, as we've noted, and I still play video games.
00:39:35
Sara
Well, stress relief.
00:39:42
Keith Carnes
And so um whether it be something mobile like Bellatro, and if you know, you know, ah it's it's kind of an indie game that hit the scene um within the last year that blew up and it's amazing.
00:39:55
Keith Carnes
It's like a poker ah variant type of game. It's awesome. Check it out. ah to Red Dead Redemption 2, to Star Wars The Old Republic, to Mario Kart.
00:40:09
Keith Carnes
um I was a child of and 80s. We had an Atari 2600. Before that, we had and then atari twenty six hundred before that we had a
00:40:22
Sara
Oh my God.
00:40:23
Keith Carnes
we we had a Pong, a Pong system before that. My parents' first system, I believe, was Pong. Then we had an Atari 2600. And then we had ah the Nintendo Entertainment System, the and NES, the original NES.
00:40:39
Keith Carnes
And it it went from there. And so... i I feel like that was the golden era, ah the seventy late seventy s all through the 80s and into the ninety s of video game consoles, and I was all about it. and so I still de-stress, or sometimes I create stress by playing some of these games, but I still qualify myself as a gamer, not...
00:41:11
Keith Carnes
not really an online competitive... shooter type of gamer, like Call of Duty or anything like that. um Mostly single player games, but very much still a gamer.
00:41:25
Keith Carnes
So i I, I wanted to throw that out there because I do think that a lot of times there are a lot of people like me. There are a lot of folks our age that do it, but they don't really talk about it because it's like, oh, well, you know, adults aren't supposed to be playing games.
00:41:40
Keith Carnes
And I think that, I think that's silly.
00:41:40
Sara
Now, are you in an interaction system? where you Are you interacting with others while you're doing this?
00:41:47
Keith Carnes
so Sometimes, not all games, but some games are what are called MMOs, massively multiplayer online games. So you are playing with other people.
00:41:56
Sara
Okay. Okay.
00:41:57
Keith Carnes
Yeah. So um that's probably about, I don't know, a third of the the games that I play. And then the rest would be just single player, you know, offline games.
00:42:12
Keith Carnes
But yeah, yeah.
00:42:12
Sara
I mean, i would love to eavesdrop on one of those rooms where everyone is in. Do you remember the YouTube videos that were popular for quite a while? ah This impersonator would go on and be like Barack Obama playing video games.
00:42:29
Sara
It was honestly one of the funniest things. And I was like, you know, I've really gone down a rabbit hole here because i am supposed to be working and I'm paying way too much attention. I don't play video games myself and I'm watching someone else do them because everyone's just dying over this guy's comments. And he sounded exactly like the former president.
00:42:50
Keith Carnes
Yeah, there's a lot of, actually on YouTube, there are a ton of channels that still do the voice changer or whatnot. And there couple ah that are um adults that pretend to be children playing like Call of Duty.
00:43:08
Keith Carnes
And um it's absolutely
00:43:10
Sara
but Okay.
00:43:11
Keith Carnes
it's absolutely hilarious because you online lobbies ah and um playing these games can be... a little raw.
00:43:22
Keith Carnes
There are a lot of people who just have no idea ah of how to behave online. um da
00:43:30
Sara
You're kidding. I can't believe it
00:43:31
Keith Carnes
a Gamers don't necessarily um do themselves ah ah you know any type of good service.
00:43:43
Keith Carnes
With the reputation oftentimes, especially around those um multiplayer shooters like Call of Duty or CSGO. And if you know, you know, it's Counter-Strike.
00:43:58
Keith Carnes
um I know when I say CSGO, you have no idea what that means. So I apologize.
00:44:02
Sara
I just assumed it was a brand at Costco or something. I don't know.
00:44:05
Keith Carnes
Yeah. So anyway, yes, it's, um there's a lot of funny content that is created um by people. I mean, that's what Twitch is all about.
00:44:18
Keith Carnes
It's basically a platform that was built around the idea of people recording their gameplay playing online. And to this day, it's an extremely ah massively large platform owned by Amazon.
00:44:33
Keith Carnes
Um, and a lot of times YouTube is filled with video clips from those streaming, sessions of people playing. I don't do that. ah but i do enjoy, video games, uh, as, as a grown ass adult, as they say.
00:44:52
Keith Carnes
and I think, I think that's okay. Um, there should be no shame in that.
00:44:57
Sara
Geez, I just like painting and baking cookies.
00:44:57
Keith Carnes
A little bit.
00:45:02
Keith Carnes
And.
00:45:02
Sara
I need a blood sport. i need a I need something for the aggressions.
00:45:07
Keith Carnes
the world needs The world needs more baking of cookies, so I'm not going to discourage that activity at all.
00:45:07
Sara
There's not much the baking of cookies, okay?
00:45:17
Keith Carnes
um I'm looking through these that I answered. How do I handle stress? I guess of video games I just kind of talked about, but I also stress eat. And I'm working on that.
00:45:28
Keith Carnes
um So I'm now trying to introduce meditation and whatnot. But I do believe that my most popular way of dealing with stress is stress eating.
00:45:39
Keith Carnes
I think where where are all my stress eaters out there, um we can all we can all join together and commiserate on the fact that ah we understand that we're not supposed to be eating when we're not hungry, but damn it, we're stressed.
00:45:55
Keith Carnes
So ah that's one thing that it's, yeah.
00:45:57
Sara
That's the food voice. That's the food voice.
00:46:01
Keith Carnes
So, and finally, what is the best piece of advice that I've ever received?
00:46:01
Sara
Yeah. Okay.
00:46:07
Keith Carnes
I'm not sure it's the best I've ever received.
00:46:09
Sara
I think it was a 529 thing. Oh, I thought that you'd given, sorry.
00:46:12
Keith Carnes
Yeah, no.
00:46:13
Sara
What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?
00:46:15
Keith Carnes
um At one point in my career, I worked with a retired general, and this general was fond of this quote, which I've carried with me ever since.
00:46:26
Keith Carnes
And this was relatively early in my career. So I've had it and have used it for many, many, many years. But that is, perfection is the enemy of good enough.
00:46:39
Keith Carnes
And um I think that so many people are so afraid of... um doing anything, executing on whatever it is that they're supposed to do or that they want to do because it's not good enough. It's not perfect.
00:46:59
Keith Carnes
And they just sit there and they tweak it and they tweak it and they tweak it and they tweak it. And it never gets released because um it's not perfect in their mind. And I think the whole concept of perfection truly being the enemy of good enough, i think the sentiment there is you know, just get it out there, you know, get it to, you know, 70 or 80% where you want it.
00:47:27
Keith Carnes
And then, and then, you know, um edit it in the field, tweak it in the field if possible. You can't do that on everything. But I think the idea here is, is that so much doesn't happen because people are waiting for it to be perfect and it will never be perfect.
00:47:45
Keith Carnes
Um,
00:47:45
Sara
That's strong advice.
00:47:47
Keith Carnes
And so just put it out there. Take the chance. Iterate. Reiterate. um There's a lot of philosophy that have been written over countless books, ah you know, like failing fast, right? The idea failing fast is crazy.
00:48:05
Keith Carnes
in the same ballpark is as this quote. That is, you know, get it out there because you think it might work. If it doesn't work, that's fine. If it fails, preferably it fails fast so that you can adjust, you can tweak it, you can iterate it and get it out there again. um And hopefully it works better.
00:48:26
Keith Carnes
But this idea of um just do it. you know if If you want to write, then write. If you want to draw or paint, Do that. If you want to launch a podcast like we are, we know that this thing isn't going to be perfect. um The joy is in the journey.
00:48:45
Keith Carnes
And we know that over time, we will get better and better and better. We'll get more comfortable doing what it is that we're doing here. And we'll find our groove and we will, you know, hit that vibe that we're seeking, you know, perfectly at some point down the road.
00:49:03
Keith Carnes
But that day is not going to be today. And it's going to take us putting in the effort and doing the work in order to get to a place where we are, you know, or reaching that thing, that vision that we had in our head.
00:49:21
Keith Carnes
ah But if we never put it out, we'll never get there. So, you know, Sarah was talking about loving the fact that people became more creative over the um ah time period of the pandemic.
00:49:38
Keith Carnes
And i love that too. and I think that people were more inclined to just let stuff out during that period of time because the rules had changed and they were different and people felt like it was their license to go and experiment.
00:49:55
Keith Carnes
Now that we are post-pandemic, I think that some of that has tailed off and that people have become more fearful again. and my advice is um to the extent you are comfortable doing it, put yourself out there, put your put your art out there, put your work out there.
00:50:15
Keith Carnes
And take the chance because if you're anything like us, you are your own worst critic and other people are going to look at what you're doing and think to themselves, wow, this is this is pretty great.
Future Podcast Segments and Community Building
00:50:30
Keith Carnes
Even if you are not there in your head quite yet, believe in yourself, do it, and remember that perfection is the enemy of good enough.
00:50:43
Sara
That is, as I said, that's very, very strong. um Going through a lot of that, not only myself, in terms of trying to decide what is an acceptable, you know, what's acceptable to share, to put out there, and seeing my kids go through a bit of that as well in completely different areas.
00:51:09
Sara
So um that that really... that reaches me. um I do think that the fear of failure and wondering what, um I think it comes down to the classic, what is wrong with me or why isn't this better?
00:51:29
Sara
And those are things that I think that the thinking person is always trying to overcome. How to fit better in the world, not by being like others, but more like rising to the puzzle piece that is your own place in, in the world.
00:51:48
Sara
So I strongly agree with that. Yes.
00:51:52
Keith Carnes
And I do think that this inadvertently, and this is a segue for us into um the types of things that our viewers and listeners will be able to expect from us.
00:52:03
Keith Carnes
I came to Sarah just this morning with the idea of a segment that is really, for a lack of better name at this point, we'll call it Quotable Quotes, and I think that's kind of what we just did there, where we pull out a quote that really resonated with us or that we found to be hilarious or that, you know, we were, you know, frustrated with or offended by whatever.
00:52:27
Keith Carnes
um Our range of emotions are... part of why I think this works. And so quotable quotes moving forward will probably be a returning segment as I continue to collect things that strike my fancy and that Sarah sarah does the same.
00:52:48
Keith Carnes
What other types of segments can the listeners and viewers expect to come from us in the future?
00:52:56
Sara
Well, Keith, thanks for asking. Let me put on my spectacles. ah No, we were talking this morning about what the what, because sometimes what the what, you know, and I i just don't even think we can get any more detailed than that because no one can control the what the what's in this world.
00:53:06
Keith Carnes
picture
00:53:14
Sara
Okay.
00:53:15
Keith Carnes
really things that happen that we're going, are you kidding me?
00:53:15
Sara
have
00:53:19
Keith Carnes
um
00:53:19
Sara
Yeah.
00:53:20
Keith Carnes
Just, just to put a little bit more context for, for folks.
00:53:22
Sara
Come again. Yeah.
00:53:23
Keith Carnes
Yeah.
00:53:24
Sara
There we go. um You know that I am a big, big fan of stupid local news. i We are kings and queens of it here in Southwest Florida.
00:53:36
Sara
ah Not only is a lot of our news dumb in the first place, but the spin is spectacular. It's almost like Southwest Florida forgot that it got big, it got population, and they're still stuck in a small town mindset. And I'm sure people think, oh, that's so quaint. And at sometimes I'm just like,
00:53:54
Sara
did we just say that? Did we just do that? So, you know, maybe we should call it, did that just happen? But, you know, we're open to it. So, um, a lot of talk shop talk, I think in terms of, uh, in terms of how to remain motivated and ah to keep going in, in this world, ah with whatever endeavors we're involved in.
00:54:19
Sara
um despite, you know, adversity, what can feel just absolutely, you know, to be bogging you down. um I think you just covered that.
00:54:31
Sara
And I appreciate that. I do. So, um, Hmm.
00:54:33
Keith Carnes
Yeah, we will will will touch on current events and try to be somewhat timely. But I think that the emotions that we feel as a result of those current events are more evergreen anyway. So I do think that mental health is something that ah Sarah and I are both passionate about.
00:54:53
Keith Carnes
And a lot of the conversations that we'll have will be, how to keep balanced um in a world that is trying its darndest to shake you up on a regular basis.
00:55:09
Sara
On a super, super regular basis.
00:55:13
Keith Carnes
Yeah.
00:55:13
Sara
Yeah, it's tricky. It's tricky. it gets It gets really hard to ah pull a few good sentences out of your keister just to to have accomplished something. But you know what I know is that it's important to um to try.
00:55:28
Sara
Because those things can be can be reworked later.
00:55:28
Keith Carnes
Yeah.
00:55:32
Sara
um Not to a crazy point, as you also pointed out, but yes, things can always be reworked. um I'm just trying to get back into that flow of the writing when everyone is talking to me and telling me what to write.
00:55:44
Keith Carnes
Mm-hmm.
00:55:46
Sara
Some people might call that schizophrenia, but I know that writers do hit this level where um if it's all working out and if you've suspended your your doubt of self enough, you can um be in a great and a great sense of flow.
00:56:05
Sara
And i I actually listened a lot about that very type of thing this past weekend in Southwest Florida. We had the Southwest Florida um Reading Festival
00:56:15
Keith Carnes
Hmm.
00:56:15
Sara
And there were a lot of very cool authors that were in attendance and giving some really nice talks. And what, of course, did I attend? But I went to the Hallmark writers, people who have had shows adapted from their books and so forth.
00:56:30
Sara
And um I think the the feelings are the same, that there is a ah self-doubt that plagues people. especially creative people, because we open ourselves wide up. It's very, very personal.
00:56:42
Sara
um Even though it may not be about us, those are the words we selected. We put those on screen paper. We committed those words to something and we bared our souls for review.
00:56:55
Sara
So managing to understand that others have done that, not that you're not unique, but that it happens And managing to, you know, to hold on to some momentum to get you to the next, ah the next page or even just the next word.
00:57:13
Sara
You know, that's, that's a lot. It's a lot. So I'm all for that encouragement.
00:57:20
Keith Carnes
Yeah, 100%. So giving advice based off of our experiences and the things that we're up to and doing ah will also end up being you know some of the regular content that we have here.
00:57:36
Keith Carnes
As both of us are spreading our wings and doing some new things this year and recapturing um some things that aren't necessarily new, but ah we are approaching with a renewed vigor, if you will.
00:57:51
Sara
Thank you.
00:57:51
Keith Carnes
um And I think that hopefully that will be valuable to to the folks who are tuning in. um We are very ah hopeful that we will be able to build community with a lot of like-minded individuals,
00:58:07
Keith Carnes
who are also trying to navigate through this crazy world we all live in. And we're hoping to be able to add some value into your a weekly routine with ah chiming in with our thoughts and perspectives and highlighting some things that we find to be valuable or hilarious.
00:58:29
Keith Carnes
um or meaningful in some way. And so we hope that you will continue along with us as this podcast grows, and that we can all come together and um do our best, just do our best moving forward.
00:58:46
Sara
There we go. Yes. So like, follow, review us, all the standards that you've already kind of hit on. um um We're going to talk about it. So, you know, don't be a jerk.
00:58:59
Sara
I'm just kidding. Be a jerk. I challenge you to be a jerk, in fact. So go right ahead.
00:59:02
Keith Carnes
i I don't know if she's talking to me, listener, or to you, but either way, um be your authentic self is all I ask.
00:59:14
Keith Carnes
So with that,
00:59:15
Sara
Yeah, that's basically what I was saying.
00:59:19
Keith Carnes
with that, we thank you um for tuning in and we'll see you next time.
00:59:25
Sara
That sounds good. Until next time.