The One with the Milkshake Story

[00:00:02] What you want, when you want it, where you want it. This is The MESH. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to episode 106, volume 7 of a below freezing edition of Big Fan.

[00:00:29] My name is Chad East and I'm a big fan of electric blankets, final four of NFL playoffs, and making it 23 days without breaking my New Year's resolution, which is not dry you wearing. I didn't think so. My name is Hank Imer and I'm a big fan, knowing that we have less than eight weeks away from spring. Okay? Didn't know that. But I love all seasons, just want longer days.

[00:00:57] Having a local doctor give you his interpretation of moderate drinking and being days, not weeks, away from getting to eat in your own kitchen. Okay. Hank, wow. Sounds like a lot of exciting things happening over the Iowa residence. Yes. So, kitchen remodel, we're at 50%, 60%, 75%. No, no, no. No. We could be fully functional like the Death Star come tomorrow. What?

[00:01:26] There's going to be people in there working like busy little beavers. But I would say no later than Wednesday of next week. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. Just in time for Super Bowl. Super Bowl. Super Bowl Sunday. Oh, you want people over? I mean, that's what I was thinking. Oh! Party at the Iowa's house. Okay. Now, there's going to be some, like a little bit of details, but I'm saying function. Like we can use a stove, use a refrigerator, use a dishwasher. That'll all be done within those days. But I'm sure we're going to have design.

[00:01:53] You know, Reagan's going to want to do some design stuff that's going to, you know, take some time. So, without a kitchen, you know, you told me about, you know, a lot of outside things, right? Yep. So, I had something just to make a note on that I passed this place a million times within the last month. There's this hot chicken place, right? Okay. What's it called? You know, the one that's- Hangry Joe's. Hangry Joe's. Yes, I have been there. So, can you give me Hank Eimer's food review, Hangry Joe's?

[00:02:23] I had a delicious sandwich. Wonderful. It was delicious. Now, I've heard since then, our producers bring up, can you bring up the menu? Yeah. So, you know, the thing about Hangry Joe's is it's, you know, it's hot. You know, it's hot. I think I had the mega sand dough combo. Of course you did. Okay. Of course. So, it's a seasoned chicken breast with the choice of spice level. I think I went pretty high on the spice level. And, you know, it's got cider slaw, pickles, hangry sauce.

[00:02:53] Brioche bun. Yeah. So, I mean, it was good. Wonderful. I'm guessing you've never been there. I've never been there. I just drive past it all the time thinking maybe that's a place I would like to check out. And, you know, I thought I would come to the food expert first before I went anywhere. I'm coming to you. Yeah. I mean, I've been there. It was good. I just, like you, I don't think of it very often because it's in the middle of a strip mall. It used to be office furniture, for God's sakes. I mean, that's not where I'm going for chicken. Do they have beer in there? I don't think so. No.

[00:03:21] No, I think it's just regular beverages. Okay. I see. Non-alcoholic beverages. Yeah. I think they just have normal beverages. But I see where you... Spread that one off the list. I do see where your head's at and what's important. Because we know that you would just go in there for a pickle. Maybe a spoonful of slaw. And then maybe you would want something like a pilsner. Yeah. That sounds great. Sounds great. Well, I didn't mean to get us off the subject, but I know you guys have been eating out a bunch without the kitchen. A ton. I figured that would be the spot.

[00:03:50] So, Hangry Joe's, you've attended it quite often, but what is the number one spot you've gone to in the kitchen remodel? What have you counted on? Lunch definitely is Center Street Eats. Yes. I've been there a thousand times since the remodel. It's great. Love everybody there. Actually, we've got some characters there that I deal with every time I go there, which is amazing. I love it. And probably at night, Backstreet's has been a favorite. Chicken Salad Chick.

[00:04:19] Definitely Chipotle. Okay. The new one that opened up on 70. Oh, yeah. That's closer to me. And you. Yes. Right on the street. So, we do a lot of that, but it's a little bit of everything. But you start to learn to just scavenge. We have this table in our living room that's now kind of our dining room that has just like a cornucopia of stuff there. Nice word. Yes. Yeah. You might be having some creatine gummies. You may have crackers.

[00:04:48] I don't know, but you're trying to get just some calories in you because it's questionable. Understood. Understood. Well, congratulations. Send that invite out. Super Bowl Sunday. Here we come. You need me to do that one? I want you to go ahead and let's just blow it out the water. Okay. Dry U-Wary is over then, too. It is. So, I mean, this could really work out. This could work out for all of us. Yes, sir. Okay. So, let's move back into January. Dry U-Wary, if you will. And you are just, you're looking fantastic, I must say.

[00:05:18] Rosie Cheat. You got a glow to you. I do. I feel great. You feel good? I feel great. You know, dry U-Wary is a funny thing because it just kind of like resets you. Like for me, it just kind of resets you. But the one thing, like I don't feel like, I feel like a million bucks. You know what? I mean, and then it comes down to how much you drink. And we're talking about like moderate drinking and stuff like that. Right. But like, I don't feel like I'm day-to-day feeling any better or worse. I will tell you, though, my sleep is amazing. I'm waking up like I'm coming out of a coma. I swear.

[00:05:48] So, you're not waking up in the middle of the night, shaky or sweaty. No. You have to pee. You just sleep right through the night? I woke up this morning and on my phone, I saw that my alarm was shut off at 4.15 a.m. I was like, who is the son of a gun going through my house? Reagan was like, I woke up with a terrible headache. I had to go out in the garage to get something out of that refrigerator. You slept right through it. They could have driven a dump truck through my room and I wouldn't have known it. Wow. That's awesome. Yeah. So, sleep is much better. So, you know, but we're only a week away. A week away. I can see the...

[00:06:18] We'll get a little jittery. But the real question is, is what weak-ass commitment did you make 23 days ago that you were celebrating? Well, I'm glad you mentioned this. So, I'm old, Hank. I'm 50. Yeah, you're old as hell. And so, I'm starting to have to do these physicals, I mean, annually, but I have to have... This one's the big year. And so, before the end of 2024, I took a physical and my cholesterol was very high. Okay.

[00:06:47] And so, they put me on some meds. So, I went back early January to get my blood work results. Yep. Pretty good. Feeling pretty good? But not wonderful. Not perfect. So, my resolution was... And he said a lot of... I don't want to take medicines for cholesterol. No, no, no. So, I'd rather watch diet and exercise than he said that would be a huge boost. So, what were we putting in our diet? Right. So, my diet remains the same, which is I barely eat anything, right?

[00:07:16] However, my exercise, this is what my resolution was. So, I was going to try to focus on at least an hour, real good exercise, five days a week, five out of seven. And when I was in the best shape of my life is when I used to swim. Do you remember? Yeah. So, I rejoined my swim club, swim team club, whatever. At the spa? At another location that will remain nameless. Okay. The last time we were somewhere, we had an incident. Yes, exactly. We're at a different spot where the water is way warm and it's a great, great spot. Good job.

[00:07:45] So, I've been swimming for the last two weeks. Four days swimming and then I'll just go to the club and get on the elliptical a couple days. Is this for an hour straight you're swimming? 45 minutes without stopping. Wow. Yes. Wow. Good work. I'm feeling good. But I have to tell you this story and first of all, I must preface this by saying I'm proud of these people in the pool. Sure. They're there. They're working. They're working. So, on my first day back. I can't wait till you bash them. I cannot wait.

[00:08:11] That's such a Southern thing is to give them a compliment than to hammer them. I can't understand this. Do it. Do it. So, I get my bathing suit on. I've got my brand new goggles I got for Christmas to motivate me. I've got my little MP3 player on the back of my goggles so I can listen while I'm swimming, which makes everything better. Everything better. Oh, so good. So, I'm getting all set up and I have the lane for one hour.

[00:08:36] So, I start warming up and all of a sudden there's a class that is setting up to be not to swim in my lane, but to set up in the big part of the pool. Right. Like jazzercise kind of like – Kind of. But it's for morbidly obese. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. When I say morbidly obese, they can't get into the pool unless they get – there's this chair. Sure. You've got to sit in the chair and it – Lowers you down. And it lowers them in. Yeah. And I'm like, you know what? Good for them. Good for them. Right. Doing something.

[00:09:05] Because these people are huge, Hank. Yeah. I mean – And this is the only way – I mean, this is a great exercise. Yes. So, I'm swimming and their class is getting ready to start and then I – between breaths, I pop up and I see the chair getting lifted down. And the lady that's getting lifted down has two milkshakes in her hand. Milkshakes? Milkshakes in her hand as she's getting lowered in the pool. And I'm like, man, what in the world is happening here? Are you trying to drag me into this?

[00:09:35] I'm not – listen, I'm not part of this. I noticed how you diverted eye contact from me when that's how you just turned your head. So – It sounds like a bit. It sounds like a bit. I don't want to be part of this. But I was just like, what is happening? So, it lowered her in and then she kind of shuffled over to the spot. I wish we could see what just happened, but go ahead. She shuffled over there and then, you know, and took a couple swallows and put them down and replaced them with the weights. Okay. You know, it's just doing – Could they be protein shakes?

[00:10:06] Not with a big Chick-fil-A on the side of them. Okay. You know? Okay. I know that logo pretty well. Okay. So, these are big milkshakes. Okay. Okay. Anyway. So, that's 45 minutes. So, her intervals were wait, wait. There you go. Wait, wait. All right. So, anyway. That's how it started. But, you know, and so I've been going continually. Absolutely.

[00:10:33] And they have been going because they're there on Mondays. And – She not doing the milkshakes? I didn't see the milkshakes this week. Okay. Did that motivate you more or less? I don't know. It – I didn't know what to think, Hank. I mean, I just try to block it out of my – I'm trying to block this segment now right here. I'm trying to block it out of my system. I can tell you. Have I really seen this? I mean, oh, wow. It was wild. Okay. But, anyway. 23 days in. We're going to keep on going. The goal is to do this all the way up till May.

[00:11:01] And then I'll start swimming at the club. Bikini weather. Exactly. That's what this guy's doing. I can see it. Bikini weather. Here we go. Here we go. But, anyway. So far, so good. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. But, I mean, you know, before you get to bikini weather, you've got to deal with this weather. Yes. The cold weather. The cold weather. And you know how I know it's cold? It's because you wore your jungle-colored Bruno Mars jacket in the air. With the furry color. Yeah. With the furry color.

[00:11:26] So, if people could imagine when Han Solo was going out to find the Luke and the Tauntaun, this is the exact jacket that Han was wearing when he went out. It's amazing. Oh, my gosh. Yes. Thank you for noticing, Hank. Yeah. So, this weather, you know, my Hawaiian blood, it gets really cold. I just don't really want to do anything. I don't want to go outside. But, more importantly, we have these tennis matches. We have these tennis clinics. All these things we do.

[00:11:54] I have a rule that if it's under 40 degrees, I shall not attend. Well, it's been under 20 degrees. However, my man Hank and the rest of the tennis crew tough it out and show up for tennis clinics. The weather ain't going to hold me back. Come on, dude. Not a second. We were out there grinding. And there was six of us out there grinding. That's incredible. Now, I'm not saying it wasn't cold. I wasn't wearing gloves. I wish I would have been wearing gloves. But I started sweating at the end. And I'm kind of thinking that maybe it kind of throws your bearings off a little bit.

[00:12:23] Because we actually had a friend who's very athletic named John Mills. Let's not say very athletic. Yeah, let's get it. I was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. There was a lob. And he normally would go back and just eat that shit for lunch, right? But when he got back, he looked a little confused as he was moving. And he's getting up in age, so maybe he's not as agile. But the ball came down and careened off his temple. It didn't even bounce. It was amazing. So maybe the cold weather had something to do with that. It affects everything. It's okay, John.

[00:12:53] Yeah, we're thinking of you, John. But I mean, it is cold now. It's supposed to get warmer throughout the weekend. And I think it's supposed to be in the 50s. Okay, good. Well, I can deal with that. Yeah. So I mean, if you look at our producer has put this stuff up. And so by the end of the week, you're starting to talk. I mean, next week, you're talking about mid-50s, which is not bad. I can handle that for sure. Yeah. So that's what I mentioned about electric blankets. So I never get anything really good for Christmas because I never ask for anything.

[00:13:22] Why would you get anything good when you shop at CVS seven hours before? Ollie's. Ollie's. I'm sorry. Wait, wait. I got that electric blanket and that sucker has been running full tilt. Full tilt? I love it. Have you ever really curled up with an electric blanket? No. Like when was the last time? No, I can't deal with that. Probably since you were a little boy, maybe? Yeah. Yes. It's like the grandma. And I'm sure the last electric blanket that I used was kind of the crappy one. Do you remember like the old electric blankets that were like the furry crappy ones that it

[00:13:50] was the same material that they used at the hotels? And then the wire going through them was so hard and coarse. Like you could not put it on you. Sure. But it would scald you. Yes. So the technology of electric blankets has really improved over the last three decades. So the wire is still there, but now the fur or the fabric material covers it pretty well. So it won't like, uh, like if that cord back in the day would wrap around your neck, you'd

[00:14:20] be dead. Dead. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Now it's a little bit better. So it's not such a hazard anymore, but man, that thing has been running full tilt. Well, I feel like, I feel like you got to have a partner that's willing to like jump on board. Is this on half the bed? This is half. So you have a twin or did you, you have a, no, and I'm not saying you live in a twin. I wrap it around me and she has one of those real, it's not electric. It's just weighted. Weighted. Yeah. She's got weighted. That thing is on her side and I've got the electric. I got you.

[00:14:48] Because I was going to say your spouse has to be on board for the electric blanket. Yes. Yes. Because I mean, you could create, you know, swamp environment around there if you, if you didn't. So, all right, well, good. So anyway, let your blanket working well. Um, anything else, you know, you were a big fan, which you mentioned, um, you got the kitchen. What are the other things? Well, the other two were springs only eight weeks away, which we talked about weather. The other thing was, it's having a local doctor give you what is a moderate.

[00:15:14] Amount of alcohol, which I think is good because he really kind of the scale was golf tournaments we play in, which is amazing because these golf tournaments, there is a scale to them. Some of them are more moderate than others. Yes. Right. But when he starts comparing those to others, I get it. I get it. And you know what I do? I feel good about myself. So let's be clear. It's not that the doctor was giving us out. So you said that he was giving us advice. Advice. Yes.

[00:15:43] He wasn't giving us alcohol. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. He was giving us advice. And not us. He was giving a large crowd. Exactly. Because he was actually on a big talk show today. Sure. Talking about alcohol consumption. Moderate consumption is not bad. Obviously, you did not listen to it because he talked about exercising and other things like that that were very important. I wish you would listen to our friend. I was focusing on the other part. Okay. Got you. But he was talking about different parts of life and what we have to focus on.

[00:16:13] And he came out to talk about how there are moderate amounts of alcohol that you can certainly have. And that's a guessing game. And I think the favorite joke on the text chain is when they play golf with you, they feel like they do a moderate amount seeing what you do. So that's very good. And then we had several people ask if they could be partnered with you the next time. So I feel good about that. That was a good text chain. That was a good text chain.

[00:16:42] They did mention a new move. It's a chair exercise. Did you understand? Can you describe to the audience what that exercise is? Well, you know, it's kind of like moving. You can do your triceps on a chair. You can strengthen your legs. You know, you can do that. So it's just about movement, Chad. Just moving. Movement. Maybe you could do that. Okay. Yeah. Till May. Yes. And add that to the pool regime. Yeah. Let's do it. Well, Hank, I don't know if you know this, but the Oscars made their nominations today. Okay.

[00:17:12] Yesterday. Okay. Last night, this morning, something like this. We will not bore our audience with the Oscar noms because- Let's not. Dude, I'm telling you, I recognize two of the eight best in show or best movies of the year. Two of them. Wicked. Okay. And one called The Substance. That's Demi Moore. Take an appeal to stay young. You probably never heard of it. No. Yes. Gladiator 2? Not in there? No dice. No best in show.

[00:17:41] Our producer's bringing it up real quick. And I'll go through the list. Dune part two. But again, dude, you would not know any of these. Okay? So, well, here we go. We'll start here. Thank you, Moose. Anora. Do you know what it is? I don't. The Brutalist. It sounds brutal. A complete unknown. That's Bob Dylan. Okay. That's the Bob Dylan one. I haven't seen it, but I want to. Conclave. No. Dune part two.

[00:18:08] The only reason I know Dune part two is because of Dune, the original Dune. The original. The original one. And I don't know any more. Amelia Perez. Nope. I'm still here. Cannot. Nickel Boys. Then we've got The Substance and Wicked. Okay. So. Awful. What in the hell is going on? I don't know what's going on. Yeah. So we're not going to go with best director, best actor, best actress. We'll just skip all that, producer Moose. Thank you very much for bringing it up.

[00:18:37] But anyway, will you watch the Oscars? No. Okay. Very good. All right. Moving on from our movie part segment of the show. I did watch Dune 2 the other day based on Camden, you know, our movie. Yeah. He's a movie guy. He was telling me. He said, have you seen it yet? Make sure you see it. And so I had not even seen the Dune one. Not the one from the 80s, but the one, you know, recently. So I've rewatched that one this past weekend and I watched Dune 2 on Monday. I thought they were pretty good.

[00:19:06] How many sand dunes are you going to give it? I'm going to give it out of four sand dunes. I'm going to give it three sand dunes. Three sand dunes. Okay. Yes. Yes. All right. And there's a lot of worms in this thing. The big worms that like will eat people. Eat people? Yeah. Kind of like a tremor worm or kind of like the one in Beetlejuice? Tremor worm. Okay. Almost. You nailed it. Okay. Yeah. Three tremor worms. I'm going to give it three tremor worms as well. Okay. Got it. Okay. Yeah. So possibly if you get a chance, Hank, check it out.

[00:19:34] Dude, I am looking at what our producer just put up and that worm is huge. That is a big worm. That is a big sand worm. Yes, absolutely. Well, check out the movie. I think you would dig it. Okay. Another kind of thing, we're sticking on the Dune sci-fi stuff. Do you know January 25th, there's going to be a celestial delight in your sky? Seven planets will line up in a row. Seven planets. Can we see this?

[00:20:03] I mean, like, tell me what we're going to be able to see. Moose, bring us some info here. Yes. So you're going to be able to see these planets will align. Okay. And again, it's not going to be like bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. It's across the sky. So you'll probably be able to see a couple of them over here. And then there's another one here and another one here and another one here. You know what I'm saying? Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Will align in the night sky. Now this is going to be special. Should we tailgate?

[00:20:32] What do we need to do for this event? You would have seen it in the 25th. So it was the 25th Saturday. Yes. You would have seen moons line up anyway at 3 a.m. That is fair. These are planets and they have not lined up like this in maybe. Is it going to be all day? It's in the evening time so you can see it, you know? Okay. So Uranus will require binoculars. The rest of them will be bright enough to see without equipment in the evening sky. And I have seen Mars under the moon.

[00:21:02] We looked at that the other night. It was awesome. And Jupiter was above the moon and just beautiful. But I can't just imagine seeing them all in kind of a line. I need you to give me a call next time so I can step outside. Yes. But Neptune, they say you have to use a telescope. Got to use – okay. So we won't be able to see that one, but just know it will be in a line. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, when they say this celestial delight happens, other strange things could happen too. Okay. Okay.

[00:21:30] Like we worried about UFOs or what we worried about? Some other sightings of – in the heavens. Okay. Okay. So you just keep your eyes peeled. I will keep them peeled. Nobody wants to – and I don't know if I've ever talked about it. Have I talked about my mom and her UFO? She is as UFO driven as you are. You told me that. Yes. So there is no person on this planet that is rooting for it.

[00:21:56] And because my brother is living with my mom now, he's there too. Yes. He digs it. Proud of him. I'm proud of him. Should I go over there for the celestial delight on January 25th? We need to hook you two up. Yep. We need to hook you two up. Let's go all lay on the ground. We'll grab a blanket, lay underneath the stars. Get your heated blanket. Get the heated blanket, yes. Maybe in my jacket. Yep. And we'll build a little fire and we'll view the gloriousness of the planet alignment. Okay. Okay.

[00:22:25] They can tell your mom to call me. Okay. Thank you. What else do we have going on, Hank? We have, let's talk a little sports stuff. You've been watching any ACC basketball? Yes. We are terrible. The ACC, this might be the worst year in the entire history of the league of quality basketball. And don't take this the wrong way. I mean, state has always been kind of like thought to be better and then they kind of have a good start.

[00:22:53] And then they kind of like, you know, but Duke is amazing. It's not, they're going to be there. Fantastic. They're going to be there. Great. Carolina losing the wake and Florida. Yeah. And Stanford. But I mean, them against each other, it is like a mediocre, like it's everybody's right in the middle. So Duke probably should not lose a game, right? No. They should just power through the ACC. And I heard the ACC only has five bids right now. You got Duke, you have Clemson.

[00:23:24] I can't even think of another team that would make it. Who else is good in the ACC? Louisville. That's three. That's all I can name. Duke, Louisville, Clemson, Wake, Stanford. SMU is supposed to be okay. So anyway, I mean. Five and three. It's not like they're great. Look at the Wolfpack down there at the bottom. Two and five. Yeah. But you know what they'll probably do is make another run like they did last year. And win the ACC and then power through to the Final Four again. You think so? Yeah. I don't think so. I think that's going to happen. But I do.

[00:23:53] I mean, like you think about it. Like Virginia, two and six right now. With Tony Bennett? That doesn't happen. No, I'm saying with Tony Bennett? With Tony Bennett. That's true. I mean, that is. I mean, they got to be reeling over there. Yeah. It's tough. Tough with the ACC. The one great thing about when basketball season kind of kicks into gear after football is we get to plan our March Madness trip. And so we book the house. So we're locked and loaded for the March Madness trip. We are too. You're kidding. No. Y'all going to the mountains or are you going? We're going to Charleston.

[00:24:23] You're kidding me. No. So tell me about your trip. This is the first for the Charleston trip, right? This is the first for the Charleston trip. We are headed down to Folly. Fantastic. Yeah. Whoa. So we are going to Folly Beach and we are going to go down there and we're going to spend a few days and we're going to watch some basketball and not do very much. But it's the first time we've gone to a beach in a long time. And is it the same kind of high school crew that typically would go? Same kind of crew.

[00:24:52] You know, I think some guys can't go because of spring obligations, but it's going to be a good group. And you know, the thing that I did like about the mountains is the hour drive back is so nice. So very nice. The four hour drive. Yes. But it's fun on the way down, you know, the anticipation of the weekend, the four hour drive, scratching lottery tickets, eating Slim Jims, listening to the radio, good songs, talking about old times. Yeah. If you win the lottery.

[00:25:23] If you win the lottery, what are we going to do? What are we going to do? But on the way home on that Sunday, it's just a lot of, the poor driver got to be done. Shut up, Chad. I don't want to hear that story again. Exactly. So anyway, it'll be fun. That's good. I'm glad y'all get a chance to do that. You guys are going back down to Cherry Grove? Going to Cherry Grove. And everybody this year is going except Hunter. Hunter's son, he's got spring break. And he says he's a senior. So this will be the last spring break. So he's not going to be able to make it. But this is the first year that the majority of all our high school buddies can go.

[00:25:53] Nice. So anyway, it should be fun. Looking forward to it. Yeah, man. Well, what else you got on your list here, Hank? Let's talk some stuff. The only other couple of things are, we didn't talk much about the football national championship and what that final game looked like. I got to tell you, when Notre Dame came down the field the first time, I was like, this is going to be a shootout. Yes. And then they stumbled, stumbled, stumbled. And then they kind of fought back. They showed a lot of heart. It was a good game to watch, but you knew Ohio State was kind of too much. Yeah. The other interesting thing.

[00:26:23] So Las Vegas had the number at eight, eight and a half. Eight and a half. That's what I got for you. And so then it was hovering right around there that entire, I mean, the entire fourth quarter. The entire time. At one point, they were down 31 to seven and nobody, I mean, it was over. But again, Notre Dame showed heart, fought like hell. Man, you got to commend them. Freeman, I like that coach, man. He's awesome. They have one five-star, Notre Dame. Ohio State had 14. Yeah. You know, so they were outgunned, but they played with a lot of heart.

[00:26:52] So it was a good national championship. So I get a little kind of depressed this time of the year. College football is now done. We only have two more real weekends of football. You've got the semifinal weekend, which I'll get your picks in a minute, and then you've got a weekend off and then you have the Super Bowl. And then it really, it's a little dormant, but then March Madness will carry us through, right? Yeah. And you know, this year I'm going to do something, Chad, right here on air. Yes. I'm going to invite you to be a participant in Major League Baseball.

[00:27:25] So what am I going to do? Okay. Am I going to come watch ballgames with you? Well, you can certainly, let's have a viewing party, but I want you to pay attention. Like, find it. Let's get a team. Let's talk about it. Let's follow it. That's fun. Let's do it. Just see if you can like baseball. And what, does it matter? You don't have to watch all the time. Okay. Just check in, because there's a lot of games, 162 games. And the team that you, you're a Braves fan. I'm a Braves guy. And it doesn't have to be the Braves. Doesn't have to be. We'll pick another team that maybe both of us could root for, and then we'll follow them. And you know, the ones that's going to be on the team a lot too are the Dodgers.

[00:27:55] I mean, they're going to be fun to watch. Yes. I mean, they got six, seven guys in their pitching rotation. That's kind of another topic that I want. They're ridiculous. Yes. I mean, the fact that they, if they lose, they deserve it if they can't pull this together. So, I mean, the Dodgers are going to be super fun to watch. Did you see that they just signed the kid from Japan? It is. I mean, for him to come in, like he had options to go everywhere, but he's going to go in with Hall of Famer kind of like characters on that team that are going to help him have zero pressure

[00:28:24] this year. How can the Dodgers afford, I mean, their payroll was up over a billion dollars next year. How can they do it just because they have the money? They have the money. There's no salary cap. No. It seems almost unfair. It is unfair because if you think that, like you think that the athletics and the Royals and teams like that are not going to put that much money in. And when they make it to the playoffs and they face off against this, it's, you know, you can't compete.

[00:28:54] It'd be hard to compete for sure. So, it's going to be fun to watch. So, I am going to, as we get closer, I'm going to kind of pull you into Major League Baseball if that's okay. Please do. I would thank you for the invite. All right. So, one of the last things I want to ask you is, and we'll probably be here before, but, and I know you're a man of very much thought when it comes to presents. We're talking minutes, not hours or days or anything. We're coming up on Valentine's Day. Yes, sir. Is this a made-up holiday for you? Is this like, hey, this is manufactured?

[00:29:24] Like some people say, hey, this is manufactured. I don't love it. I'm not getting drug into it. I can buy roses for $40 any other time of the year. Now, it's $2.50. What am I, and you got girls. Yes. And that's an important thing. Sure. You know, I mean, you got to. So, we all, I say we. Jennifer typically will buy the girls something that's very sweet, and I would normally sign my name to the card. But, you know, when it comes to me exchanging gifts with my spouse, we don't really do Valentine's.

[00:29:54] We'll go out to eat dinner. Okay. So, we'll do a dinner. Good. And something like that. But it's really no exchanging of gifts, no candies, no flowers or anniversary. Yeah. Valentine's Day is another way they're just trying to get in my pocket. Do you remember in high school having flowers delivered to the high school for your girlfriend? Absolutely. And, like, you felt like you had to do it. In high school, Valentine's Day was massive. Yeah. I mean, it was huge.

[00:30:22] If you didn't do it, it was like walking out to the parking lot and smacking your girlfriend. I mean, it was ridiculous. It was so true. But, you know, the flower shop, you know, where everybody ordered from, you know, right when you'd call in, you'd call at about, like, 11.45 that day, they'd be like, hello, Mr. Imer. Yes, we've been waiting for your call. Do you have your credit card ready? All we have are super red, which are 10 times more than the others.

[00:30:51] Yeah, and then they've got that special gold-plated one, too. You know, that's all I've got left. I'm going to have to charge you $1,000 for this. Yeah, exactly. Oh, but it is funny. So this year, like, Jennifer, she is actually going to Raleigh on Friday, which is Valentine's Day, to go hang out with her friends for the weekend. Romantic. And, you know, I was invited to do something that weekend, too, but I said, guys, there ain't no way I'm leaving Jennifer on Valentine's Day. So I came back, and I just kept it to myself.

[00:31:19] And she said, this is like a week later, by the way, we don't have plans on Valentine's Day, do we? I was like, no, not that I know of. But she was like, okay, I think I'm going to go spend the weekend with the girls. And I was like, go for it. So now are you going? Now I'm going back to what the original plan was with the homies. So yeah, it should be a fun Valentine's Day had by all. Well, that's good. I mean, you know what that says?

[00:31:44] That says that you don't need those holidays to show your love and to be important to your spouse. Yes. And that's what it is. Because, you know, now it's just, you know, it's every day is Valentine's Day, I'm sure. I couldn't have said it better myself. Every day is Valentine's with you, honey. Yeah. Right? Good. Good. Yes. Thanks. I thought as much. So that's good. That's always a good thing. Well, give me a quick update on the Hickory High School sporting schedules.

[00:32:11] So the basketball team's still kind of doing their thing, won the tournament. Yeah, they won the tournament. They've come out and they've played kind of the back half of the conference, which wasn't strong. So they won those games. And then Tuesday they played. So these next two weeks are going to be very difficult. Tuesday played Statesville, who's kind of like a gritty athletic team. And they beat Hickory. So Statesville beat Hickory on Tuesday. They play East Lincoln tomorrow, Friday.

[00:32:41] And East Lincoln beat us the first time. Probably shouldn't have because we had them right there at the end. We should have won. But East Lincoln beat us. Then we go to North Lincoln next Tuesday. We barely beat North Lincoln. They're a good team. They got some good players. We play Freedom on Wednesday, who's good. Then we play Saint at Saint on Friday. So we have this week and next week of pretty tough going. So pretty tough. And then we start to go into, I think the girls are kind of having a tough season.

[00:33:11] The record isn't as good as it's been in the past. Then you're starting to see baseball is getting ready to kick up. Soccer is getting ready to kick up. I guess girls lacrosse is getting ready to kick up. Then you're going to have boys golf and tennis. So you're going to start to see people starting to have a little bit of fun. And it's kind of cool. I mean, I don't know if Lucy's playing. She's not playing soccer this year. We're focusing on the dance, but I know that their team is going to be nasty. Yeah, they're going to be good. They're going to be very, very good.

[00:33:40] So it'll be fun to watch for sure. And the baseball team, Hickory, going to be okay? Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I think that they're going to be okay. You know, they're a little young because I think that like they've got some pitching. And, you know, I know that they have a junior that's probably going to anchor it in Maddox-McCree. I know Ronan Nealon, who's a sophomore, pitched quite a bit last year. I know that there's a couple of seniors that have thrown innings.

[00:34:06] So I think that they're going to be kind of relatively kind of young sophomore, junior. But, I mean, you know, the tough thing is we've got a pretty tough conference. And so it's going to be, I mean, it's going to be tough to win in that conference. Think about this, though. Harris coming from Grandview. Yep. They did not have too much success when lost. Never did. Personally, he had tremendous, you know, personal stats.

[00:34:35] But as a team, didn't taste victory often. Nope. Never. Did they ever taste victory? Never. Never got a win. Never. So, wow. Now he's at Hickory High. They're going to get a chance to get some wins. Yeah. So that's exciting. That is exciting. And, you know, in reality, too, is Harris is getting ready to play for David Kraft. David Kraft was my coach in high school. Sure. So it's kind of cool to get that, you know, get him the opportunity to play for David. Yes. You know, at some point. So it's cool. Yep.

[00:35:03] So staying on the kid level real quick. So, Harris, you drove up here to our last podcast. And I saw his new car, which is just gorgeous. It ain't his yet. I mean, exactly. It ain't his yet. So I don't know if you remember, but we were going to have a talk or I was going to have a talk to lay down the ground rules about the car, which we did. And my daughter, Lucy Rose, was very attentive, listened to every word I said. And I was proud of her. She said, yes, Dad, blah, blah, blah, of course.

[00:35:32] The way I started was this. I was, this is not your car. This is my car. Your car. I'm giving you the opportunity to drive it. As long as you do the things that you know you're supposed to do. You get the grades. You make sure your studies are good. You treat people fairly. You go to dance on time. All the commitments that you've created for yourself. You make and you give it at 110. Then that car, drive it as long as you want to. The one time that you're not, that car now is mine and you're not driving anymore. So anyway, that conversation went real, real well.

[00:36:02] And furthermore, her tire, she's on her way to Lincolnton Huntersville for dance class the other day. Tire pressure, way down. She gets to a gas station, puts the air in the tire, gets on her way to dance, comes back, says, Dad, the tire pressure was low. I said, what'd you do, honey? What happened? Did somebody help you? She was like, I just did it by myself. I went to the place, filled it up with air, blah, blah, blah.

[00:36:29] So anyway, these little people, they can take care of themselves. Look at them. They need us a little bit. Yeah. But they are very independent people. Right. So I was happy for. So another thing, I bought this thing called Air Moto. I was telling you about it. You keep it in your car and if your car goes flat, we tested it. You put it right in there, push the button, dude, it'll pump the tire up. You put it in her car. I put it in her car and Olivia's got one in her car too. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So safe. Super dad. Super dad. They get you. Air Moto.

[00:36:59] Turns you into super dad. Well, I mean, you know, it's kind of scary to let them go off, venture off on their own. Now you're talking about, you know, Lucy driving to Lincolnton and Huntersville and, you know, Harris, like we're doing it tonight, we're driving to Huntersville to hit. Yeah. And, you know, at some point he's going to have to do that drive by himself and 77 at 430, which we're going to leave today. That ain't no fun. It's not that much fun. So you got to pay attention. No, sir. Yeah. So we're good. We're good for the young people in our lives.

[00:37:27] And I hope everybody else is having a great start to 2025. So far, so good for you. Oh yeah. So far, so good. You know, one of my, um, my, uh, missions this year, and I, I don't know if you, you can let out the secret just yet is about a year ago. You said that there was a, um, method to your episodes and volumes. I've been writing each one of them down and I've been watching them and they just seem to be in order.

[00:37:54] They don't seem to have any relative, like secret kind of. No, no, no, no, no. It seems like you just said that to be like coy and I've been paying attention and you're just doing the numbers one more. So there's, for a year I've done this. Is there any, is there anything that you've done that made this more secretive? No, I just wanted you to figure it out, Hank. I just wanted you to figure it out. You're dumb. I'm clever. I'm clever. Um, without being, you know, too smart.

[00:38:24] Does that make sense? You know what? I couldn't have said it better. Yes. Um, you know, in the next couple of weeks, we've had a buddy turn 50, Josh Elder. Happy birthday to you last week. Jeff Osborne turns 50, I think in a week or two. Um, there's some other really special birthdays that I'm forgetting too, but anyway, birthday season, early January, February, people turning 50. I think my brother turns 50 this year in March. So your brother does, I think so. You sure about that? 49. He does not turn.

[00:38:54] He's one more year. Yeah. You sure Jeff does too? Jeff was one year behind me. Yeah. Yeah. I'm pretty sure. Okay. I'm pretty sure. Okay. So anyway, uh, a lot of fun stuff happening. And then besides the March Madness trip, we've got a trip to Kiowa with spring break, which will be wonderful with, with the fam. Okay. Yep. And then we're doing a Virginia tech basketball weekend with some of the tennis dudes, which will be pretty cool. Oh yeah. Yeah. What game are you going to?

[00:39:24] Virginia tech, Virginia, which will be huge rivalry. Well, you know, the best part of that is, is that your brother is a huge Virginia fan and, uh, I would hate it. So Virginia tech is three and five. Virginia is two and six. Yes. It's I hope I, I really do hope this is, I'm going to say this. I know you're going with, and I think it's going to be wildly fun and it's going to be awesome. But I really hope Jeremy wins. Do you really? I do, man. I want to see him.

[00:39:51] And you know, I love the Virginia tech, the connection to Virginia tech. Yeah. But my boy's got to get a win. That's fair. That is fair. This is for you, Jeremy. I just don't want to get his butt kicked when he's rooting for the Cavaliers in the Hokie stadium and somebody comes across the top bleacher and knocks him out. You talking about ACC fighting? Nah, that ain't working. That's fair. That's fair. So anyway, a lot of fun stuff. Get ready to come up. Some good music, uh, coming to Hickory.

[00:40:17] Um, our man Moose, I'm sure they're playing around town, uh, his band. And, uh, anyway, lots of good things happening. Are you going to the gala, the Hickory Museum of Arts gala, where you get all dressed up and all that. We are the Jojo J. J. J. Uh, weekend. So we're not going. Yes. We'll be in Asheville that weekend for, it's one of these murder mysteries where they give you the role. Yeah. I've heard that. No, you did it last year. We did it last year and the year before. Okay. So we're doing it this year.

[00:40:47] Have you got your role? Yes. So we're part of the Vanderbilt family, owners of the Baltimore house. And so we're not, this is like aristocratic monies. And so we all come into this place. We're supposed to be aristocrats. Do you need to borrow fine clothing? I've got a couple of t-shirts that I'm playing. What do you think? Tell me, should I wear a top hat with a cane? Tell me, do I need to pull? I think I can pull this off, but Jennifer's like, what are you going to wear? I just don't want to be the standard old tux.

[00:41:15] You know, I want to make a statement. I don't know. I don't know if the top hat and the cane would be good, but I think you're really going to like wow the crowd if you go in there and go, yeah, here, see, huh? Chad Vanderbilt here. I think you need, it goes more with the persona than it is the top hat. Okay, okay. So I need to really work on my acting chops. And you know the other thing is, is like, I don't know if I'd wear a top hat because you're not a tall guy. And so the hat will be in everybody's line of sight.

[00:41:44] And so they can't really see anybody else. If you don't wear the hat, they'll see right over you. That's pretty funny. Yeah, that's pretty funny. But the cane. The cane, hey, what if something breaks out in a fight? I got a cane. Here's my weapon. Yeah. Come mess with me. Come mess with you. Come over here. Yeah, I'd use the cane for sure. Because it's murder mystery. Murder mystery. Who knows? Maybe I did it. Yeah, maybe you did. Not with the cane. Maybe with the cane, you'd have one of those swords that come out. Unsheath it. Unsheath the sword. Exactly.

[00:42:10] One of my buddies just texted me and he was like, please send a picture of the tiny sword being unsheathed. And he was like, actually, even better, can you bring it to the draft? And I was like, I'll be honest with you, buddy. If I brought it to the draft, I would lose it in my not kit. It's so small. It's like the size of a toothpick. Oh, I love it. I'm not going to bring it because it will get lost. But anyway, Olivia does have it in her room. I know I had the picture of it. Oh, that's right. She's got a tiny bowl of ramen beside it and then a little dragon. That's right. It's amazing. Oh, it's so cool.

[00:42:40] It's so cool. You know, they canceled her school yesterday for weather in Columbia. I don't think they've canceled school in Columbia for weather in probably three decades. Amazing. Anyway, they canceled it yesterday. And Hickory didn't get an ounce of snow. No. Not a drop. Not a flurry. Not a flurry. Not a flurry. Well done. All right, my friend. Well, that's going to do it for this episode of Big Fan. We'll be back in about two weeks. Well, hopefully the weather will be a little bit warmer. And it will be Super Bowl week.

[00:43:06] So we'll bring some Super Bowl festivities to the podcast. Sound good? Yeah. Because, you know, the other thing that we do Super Bowl week, I don't know if you know this, our office does something called the Super Bowl. And it's a soup cook-off. I know you're a big soup fan. Whoa. Yeah. Okay. So we're going to have probably anywhere from seven to ten soups. They come in, and they bring in their crockpots at different times in the morning. And then we all go down there, and we all taste them. And then we judge it. Super Bowl. Wonderful.

[00:43:36] Very creative. Very creative. And our resident chef, who's fantastic baker and cooker, Erica, who works with you, does she know? Boo! She's going to get you, boy. Anyway, does she know what to participate in the Super Bowl? So I think the first year we had it, she did participate. Yes. And she did not win. Oh. And she was very upset about said loss. But you know what she's done? What's that? She got back up on that horse.

[00:44:06] She's back in it. She's back in it. Is she going to be making the sourdough bread to dip into the soups? Listen, you know she is. Okay, absolutely. Smart. She wants the dub. She wants the dub. The other thing that she's doing with that is everybody knows that she makes the bread and the bread's going to be there and they're going to feel bad if they brood against her. Fair enough. So they're going to. Okay. I'm just, hey, you know what? I'm proud of her for dipping her toe back in the soup contest. That's right. Well done, Erica. We'll look forward to tasting your lovely chowder.

[00:44:33] Is it a chowder, Hank, or is it more of a thin broth soup? Well, you know, we've had all kind of winners in this. And so I think, you know, we've had, we've never had a chili win because, you know, chili is chili. It's not soup. We've had some, the weirdest one was like a coconut one, but it was delicious. It was really good. But, you know, we've had a lot of vegetable beefs. We've had a lot of, we've had a lot of chilies. Yeah.

[00:45:01] But we've, usually the ones that have some creativity win. Yeah. Well, good luck. Maybe a seafood bisque. We've never had a seafood. Maybe it brings it home this year. No. My money's on the seafood bisque. I don't, I really don't trust seafood bisques a hundred miles from the coast. Can't go wrong, Hank. All right. To our listeners, thank you for tuning in and we'll look forward to talking with you back here in two weeks. Thanks for checking out Big Fan. Peace.

[00:46:06] My milkshake brings up.