EXPERIENCE 188 | Reasonable, Affordable, Sustainable - A Conversation with Ben Aste, Founder & CEO of Uncle Benny’s Building Supplies, and Candidate for Larimer County Commissioner for District 3

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Ben Oste is a conservationist first and foremost, also an Eagle Scout and the son of a Swiss immigrant.

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Ben started Uncle Benny's building supplies from a small rented shed because he couldn't stand to see the waste in the lumber supply industry in which he'd been working for some years.

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Uncle Benny's grew quickly and is growing still despite an interruption in retail operations you'll hear about in the business journey segment and Uncle Benny's will soon reopen bigger and better than ever and fully under second generation management.

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With Ben's son, Ben, taking the range because Ben, the senior expects to be busy.

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My guest today is CEO of Uncle Benny's, but also running for Larimer County Commissioner for District 3, for and narrowly lost to the current occupant last time around.

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With many of the same philosophies as his building supply company, Ben is running on a platform of reasonable, Affordable and sustainable and you can learn more about his campaign at voteforoste.

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com I like Ben a lot enough that I put an Uncle Benny for Larimer County sign up in my yard And I even gave him a little chip in on his campaign He's a win, win, win, win kind of guy and his combination of business sensibilities and conservationist principles should be, and is appealing to voters of all stripes and flavors.

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And when I learned in this conversation, how much Lerner County commissioners make, I wondered aloud, maybe I should be a Lerner County commissioner.

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Stay tuned on that topic and please enjoy as I did my conversation with Ben Oste.

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Welcome back to the Loco Experience podcast.

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My guest today is Ben Aste and Ben is the founder and CEO of Uncle Benny's Building Supply, and he's also the Republican candidate for the second time for Larimer County District 3.

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So, uh, how's the race going so far?

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Do you have any sense?

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Is there polling in a district race like this?

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We've had it before.

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I don't know that we're going to do that.

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There's.

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Possibility someone may pull it, um, uh, along the way here.

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We're less than two months away, of course.

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Yeah.

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So you're not like necessarily polling is, I mean, it's kind of hard to know where you're at, right?

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It is, but I always say, listen to the people, I mean, listen to them.

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And, and it's been very positive.

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Uh, I've shared that really for the last.

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Uh, since I lost in 2020 by, by only a hundred and well, there was only 11, 000 votes, uh, almost got 100, 000 for the first time running.

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So I was really happy about that as a businessman running and, um, never been in politics before network there, totally not really just listen to the folks and, and, and giving them my ears and, uh, really focusing on what, what their needs are.

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And, uh, and that's what a county commissioner is, is supposed to be a firewall between government and, uh, And so, uh, we're hearing, uh, I'm hearing just personally so many positive things and, uh, party, all parties are putting actually funds and donating to my campaign.

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I did not see at all this degree.

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All parties.

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You mean the Democratic Party?

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Democratic.

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Yeah.

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You mean people from, from all three parties, you know, you're such a libertarian.

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Independent kind of minded person because you're like, A conservative that cares about the environment.

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Totally.

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You know, I say, they say both cancel you for that shit.

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I mean, totally.

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And I actually consider myself a conservationist.

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I say that to people and I, I can serve anything I'm given stewardship over, whether it be climate, water.

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And so, uh, I, I am an Eagle Scout.

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And so if you leave your, if you leave your water, not completely drank, I will dump that in my plans right then down to thank you.

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Thank you.

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You know, that's, I mean, it all matters.

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It really does.

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I mean, dad, I'll go back to dad, Swiss man, you know, very conservative guy.

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And, uh, on everything, he was a mountain climber and loved the outdoors, of course.

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And so, uh, being raised by dad, uh, we were only given a certain amount of time to shower, Um, I mean, he came from Switzerland, so water and power and everything else was more conserved there.

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Really?

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I would think the melting snow would create all the water you wanted.

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You had a lot.

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You had a lot of hydroelectric power, of course, there with all the gravity and the mountains and efficiency and the trains are all run by electric.

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But you know, if you would stop, I lived there for about three months.

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If you would stop somewhere for any kind of a traffic jam or construction, you were, you had to turn your engine off.

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Hmm.

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Or you were ticketed.

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And that's, that's 40 years ago.

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Right.

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I mean, that's, that's pretty on time.

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Right.

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Right on time.

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You know what, you know, they had it together.

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Yeah.

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They were ahead of times.

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Right.

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Well, we'll, we'll dip into the why of the race and things like that, but I'd like to really start with the business journey and, uh, you know, I've, I've shopped at Uncle Benny's a couple of times.

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It's been quite a while, honestly.

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I just, uh, You're quite a ways away from me and I don't do as many projects as I used to.

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I hire people.

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Uh, but, uh, tell me about like the current state of affairs at Uncle Benny's.

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Okay.

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Current state.

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I'm going to teach you a little bit.

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We, we can't say where we're going to land here in the next few months and reopen till the inks dry on the contract.

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But the way we're set now, we're actually in position to sell and under contract to sell our land where we were going to rebuild, actually build a new build out by candlelight in Johnstown.

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Yeah.

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Through a, uh, uh, chain of events are, we lost our civil engineer unexpectedly about 85 percent through the civil engineering.

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And I had to wait until another civil purchased his office and took, started to basically took off and went with where the other one left off.

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And so that's all finished.

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Um, we recently found out that big.

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Big power, three phase, four 80 transformers are out two to three years.

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Oh, short supply and you need that.

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And we need that.

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And so we had someone offered to buy our land.

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Um, and it, this is all just transpired recently.

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So it's kind of cool that we have this interview now because time wise, there's been a lot of change in the last, 30 to 60 days.

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So when you're saying reopen as uncle Benny's closed right now at the moment in time, or thank you for asking that detail.

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We are still open, but not a storefront.

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Okay.

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Not a full time storefront.

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We're running a sale operator.

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Kind of.

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Yeah.

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But also we are handling folks, but where we are as a temporary location for the last two years, right.

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Okay.

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And it's our door shop.

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And we're, we moved into cabinet and custom cabinet manufacturing now.

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Oh, I didn't know you did any of that.

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Really wild stuff for custom builders and people with, you know, whatever their ideas are.

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Oh, okay.

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My son, my son Benny Jr.

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just, he takes always been a craftsman of a different type.

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He's totally just, he's just going.

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Give him my regards, by the way.

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Thank you.

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I got to know him a fair bit, like, uh, when I was running my food truck and he was trying to figure out that little farm kind of art.

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Center thing down there in Loveland.

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Yeah, that's still kind of happening.

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And I was going to ask you how I knew you and him first connected before I got to know you.

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Yeah, we were both kind of in the kind of local food movement and different kind of spaces around that and whatever else.

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So wild.

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Yeah.

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We've spent a little time together.

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That's still happening.

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So there's even more to the story on that.

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Okay.

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Back to now, what we're in the next several months, it's all kind of clicking.

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The ducks are quacking and we're doo doo.

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Actually close on one sale and buy the same property with power that you need.

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And in fact, it does have everything, you know, and it's, it's quite a bit larger than what we had here probably.

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And probably about the same price as building a new thing that's smaller.

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It's so much easier to make a buck when you can sell, let the people come see the goods.

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It's kind of doing it by phone.

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Let me send you pictures.

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It's been, it's been a rough road, man.

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It's no doubt challenging.

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This can be Tell me about like, uh, like the business model, like where, because it started as kind of a, a recycler of materials, but you're, you're sourcing new things, building cabinets and stuff, but tell me about the, I don't know, overall, how it really will be, but you can tell me, yeah, you can, we can start where it started.

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I can, I can expedite pretty quick cause it's, it's a bit of a story, but.

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I was assistant buyer for several companies in the last one before I started Uncles, where I launched from that corporation.

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We were actually disposing of about 12 to 15 percent of two million a month.

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Oh, dang.

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Now, when you do the math and that was a new product, new building materials.

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When you do the math at that time, 29 years ago, that was an income for six families.

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We had 200 people on the floor at that time.

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And so I had a hard time just seeing that go to waste the way I've been brought up and so forth.

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I've been around the world, several different countries and seeing poverty and I just, I just couldn't handle anymore.

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So I said, well, I'm gonna do something about that.

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So, um, I asked my boss if I could sell it to somebody that was a recycler at that time.

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And that's how I started, kind of launched it actually with, uh, Coppers in Loveland, then he passed on.

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And then I went over, I was doing work with, uh, Resource 2000 out of Boulder.

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Okay.

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And so we had kind of a collaborative effort going.

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And so anyway, uh, I started hanging a shingle.

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And we had this little shed.

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It was like an old grocery store, like the HP start, you know, you get a packer start seriously, classic eight by 10 shed had a generator outside the heat had to, had no, had to bring a phone in.

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It was just prehistoric, but a hundred bucks a week was a good week.

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Right.

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And it was in Loveland.

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Okay.

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And so we started there out grew that quick within a year.

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We're like, okay, we're on to something.

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In fact, Mr.

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One of the Dynas brothers came over and said, Hey man, would you consider a partnership?

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I said, I'm not interested.

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I appreciate it.

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That's I really do appreciate it.

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I don't know who the Dynas brothers are.

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Well, they had a huge lumberyard for me.

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Oh, I see.

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Okay.

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And, uh, I was flattered, but I said, I, at this point, I don't feel that vibe, you know?

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So I said, no, thanks, but we moved on.

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And then, uh, went from there to the place where we were down on 13, you met us, we became aware of us.

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The red kind of barn looking property.

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Yellow, then it went yellow and then, you know, yellow and green or something.

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So we outgrew that some years ago, that'd be probably now timeline, we, we really outgrew five or six years ago.

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And you're sourcing still from like single source almost or lots of different places?

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Corporations, and I mean, out of state, I mean, we're bringing stuff in from, you know, All trucks, semi loads, mainly semis.

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We've grown to that.

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So we're kind of, you know, one hand we're kind of shrunk down in the, in the retail side, but we're trucking in and brokering large Kwan of semi loads.

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In fact, we've got a semi today.

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We'll have one come in.

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Yeah.

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And one go out.

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Because you take a few things off of it.

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Oh, okay.

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Well, we'll have like every other semi load.

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It'll be for folks that need 50 bundles of shingles or 70.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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And then, but you can't, you just can't, you got to kind of help everybody out.

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The big hitters are there.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Then you have the do it yourselfers that need three bundles.

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Right.

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It all adds up.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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So we're trying to accommodate all the All the needs, right?

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So you're just kind of buying the, the, the leftovers from projects a lot of time, but from the yards themselves.

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So like what?

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But oftentimes mostly new, which is amazing, bro.

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And it's just, it's a nuisance.

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It's a nuisance to go to a job.

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If you can imagine 300, uh, apartments, right.

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And we're just closing one up now.

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We did one up on 402.

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We just closed one down two months ago and they're like, we got to blow.

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We're out of here.

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They're going back to Texas.

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Right.

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And whatever.

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We're Whoever the general is right?

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Yeah.

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And what are they going to do?

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You know, they can't bear to throw it away.

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Thank God.

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I mean, it used to be years ago, there was no sourcing and they wouldn't even look.

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They didn't know there was anybody that could help them.

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Right, right.

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So Uncle Benny's is here to help.

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And, and, and we were, and we are, and we still will, because Benny, when I get the job as commissioner, he's going to keep rolling with it.

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Sure.

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Which is cool.

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Right?

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So how can you use your, uh, county commissioner status to really, uh, Benefit your business.

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Is there any, uh, shadiness that you can work into?

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Well, I don't know, man.

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It's pretty, yeah, it's pretty deep.

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It's pretty deep in there.

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There's a lot going on.

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It's a 650 million plus budget.

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Right.

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But it's all the principles are there.

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I know how to take money and be frugal with it.

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Period.

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Go back to conserve conservationist.

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I'll conserve, but I want to get in there and get alongside everybody and appreciate the professions.

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Appreciate the people and work with them.

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Not come in there and say, I would be the last person to come in and say, well, I'm going to tell you how to do your job.

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They've already been doing the job for, for many years in some cases.

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All I want to do is come in and say, is there anything I can do to help?

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And I look upon it.

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Listening more.

00:13:27.523 --> 00:13:27.903
Yeah, exactly.

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That's what we started talking about is listening about how people do stuff.

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And ultimately, that's, that's what we do.

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Like listening with attention or paying attention is how you even uncovered the model for this business.

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You're like, there's all this waste.

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Now we just got to figure out who wants it and give them an opportunity.

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And it started with just, you know, handyman Jack working on a garden shed and really expanded a lot from there.

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Sure.

00:13:52.413 --> 00:14:00.932
And every needs is as important as the next, whether it's a, like I say, a bundle or a two by four or a whole semi loaded, it doesn't matter to us.

00:14:00.993 --> 00:14:01.852
Serving is.

00:14:02.222 --> 00:14:04.163
Is our total motivation.

00:14:04.462 --> 00:14:04.763
Yeah.

00:14:04.783 --> 00:14:06.562
Is our motivation, helping the people.

00:14:06.582 --> 00:14:14.793
What's the, what's the new location going to afford to you to do that you haven't been able to do either historically or in this temporary, man, I'll tell you, we've been.

00:14:15.148 --> 00:14:19.118
We, we, we left a building at 3, 200 square feet as the main building.

00:14:19.118 --> 00:14:27.648
We had some outbuildings in the back, but we've been in a 4, 000 square foot shop right now we're leasing, which is difficult for us being owners and now leasing, it's been tough, right?

00:14:28.368 --> 00:14:34.607
We will have, we're looking at almost 15, inside square foot warehouse, and which is cool.

00:14:34.607 --> 00:14:37.077
It fits our model of it's good bones, right?

00:14:37.408 --> 00:14:38.177
It's a good building.

00:14:38.177 --> 00:14:42.618
It's an old building, but it's, it's great because we don't have to wait and build a new one.

00:14:42.618 --> 00:14:46.248
And I've always been a proponent of why do they, why are they pushing that building?

00:14:46.248 --> 00:14:47.197
It looks like a good building.

00:14:48.008 --> 00:14:51.418
Let's go in there and refit it, turn it into something else and produce something else.

00:14:51.628 --> 00:14:53.288
There's gotta be somebody else that can utilize it.

00:14:53.288 --> 00:14:53.518
Right.

00:14:54.368 --> 00:15:00.177
So we're, we're looking forward to having a storefront front and then being able to display the goods again.

00:15:00.177 --> 00:15:05.107
Like who wants to go buy a Christmas tree without being able to go look at the lot, pull it out and look at it, turn it around.

00:15:05.432 --> 00:15:09.283
Well, that's the same principle with doors, lumber, windows, hardware.

00:15:09.373 --> 00:15:12.633
I mean, we are just so excited about getting back into our game plan.

00:15:12.753 --> 00:15:12.952
Yeah.

00:15:12.952 --> 00:15:13.232
Yeah.

00:15:13.253 --> 00:15:22.452
Well, and obviously, uh, the custom cabinetry and different things like that is a lot more space to grow to potentially is that stuff coming from just base wood?

00:15:22.452 --> 00:15:25.493
Or is that also like base wood that you've sourced?

00:15:25.493 --> 00:15:31.993
And so you have a kind of a competitive price advantage on your stock material.

00:15:32.543 --> 00:15:32.913
Well, yeah.

00:15:33.972 --> 00:15:37.212
We're kind of all it's we're so our bandwidth is wide.

00:15:37.363 --> 00:15:39.143
We do so many different things.

00:15:39.153 --> 00:15:47.403
In other words, today we actually, last night we picked up 45 slabs, live edge slabs from a, from a customer out of Fort Collins that was selling his house.

00:15:47.413 --> 00:15:49.592
He's putting it on the market the 17th of this month.

00:15:50.452 --> 00:15:52.863
And he was kind of having to boogie sooner than he wanted to.

00:15:52.863 --> 00:15:59.052
So we just came up, picked up slabs and he consigned them with this slab slabs of, of different kinds of wood.

00:15:59.052 --> 00:16:08.192
Like, you know, they take these big Lucas mills and beautiful slabs, Russian olive and pine and maple and, and walnut, you name it.

00:16:08.852 --> 00:16:09.575
For tables and stuff.

00:16:09.575 --> 00:16:11.292
Ryan Baldwin makes a bunch of stuff like that.

00:16:11.292 --> 00:16:15.533
He's, he's a good friend of ours, a customer and he's, we've used his kiln before in his service.

00:16:15.533 --> 00:16:18.033
So we do some back and forth with Ryan too.

00:16:18.883 --> 00:16:21.717
And so it'll be fantastic to do that.

00:16:21.717 --> 00:16:22.613
So there's one source.

00:16:22.653 --> 00:16:26.952
Then we have lumber that we buy from Paxton, lumber out of Denver to, for our new builds.

00:16:27.092 --> 00:16:31.462
You know, builder wants four inch thick, solid Oak treads for his stairs.

00:16:31.462 --> 00:16:35.753
And he's doing floating stairs and the platforms are four feet by eight foot.

00:16:35.763 --> 00:16:37.572
And they weigh 750 pounds a piece though.

00:16:37.582 --> 00:16:39.143
We're building that kind of craziness.

00:16:39.202 --> 00:16:41.722
We've done a second house just finished two months ago.

00:16:42.232 --> 00:16:46.572
So we're getting in stuff that you would never, it's the people that come up with the ideas.

00:16:47.222 --> 00:16:53.173
If they have an idea, they come and talk to Benny, and he goes, Yeah, I'd love to do that, because he likes the challenge.

00:16:53.173 --> 00:16:53.783
Yeah, yeah.

00:16:54.173 --> 00:16:55.503
Um, what's your team?

00:16:55.513 --> 00:17:03.092
It's gotta be quite a bit of stuff, like you're moving a bunch of materials around, or especially you will be in the future, but also sourcing all these things.

00:17:03.592 --> 00:17:13.803
Or is it like, is there like a Craigslist for material sourcers, or like how is, are you bidding on like auctions and stuff, or how do you, what's the flow look like?

00:17:13.952 --> 00:17:21.932
It's, a lot of folks, you know, do it yourselfers, contractors, um, commercial and residential, so we do dabble in the commercial as well.

00:17:22.073 --> 00:17:22.363
Okay.

00:17:23.113 --> 00:17:26.452
Some of the commercial's not as easy to, to, to actually turn.

00:17:27.877 --> 00:17:29.317
But we do have the connections now.

00:17:29.317 --> 00:17:30.468
We didn't have these before.

00:17:30.478 --> 00:17:35.278
Again, we're building off, we're coming off for 29 years and Benny's outsold me.

00:17:35.278 --> 00:17:35.678
Probably.

00:17:35.678 --> 00:17:42.377
I had a buddy say, a good friend of mine said, Ben, I don't want to hurt your feelings or don't take this wrong because I think your son's going to outsell you three to one.

00:17:42.678 --> 00:17:50.567
Uh, and I go, actually, I take that as a compliment because as I get older, I'm thinking, you know, the kids hopefully take care of their plan.

00:17:50.567 --> 00:17:52.018
They're basically all love each other.

00:17:52.018 --> 00:17:52.607
So that's cool.

00:17:53.377 --> 00:17:55.347
But, um, no, it's, it's, um, yeah.

00:17:55.847 --> 00:17:58.028
The sourcing is just from so many brokers.

00:17:58.028 --> 00:18:08.728
Word of mouth, people looking at our website, people go on Craigslist and kind of, I think marketplace and Craigslist are kind of fizzling a little bit, but there's just the word of mouth is still the best, right?

00:18:09.468 --> 00:18:12.018
And this may sound funny, but we, we've actually.

00:18:13.712 --> 00:18:19.643
Played it down that we've moved in this place because it doesn't have sufficient parking and we don't want to frustrate our people.

00:18:19.643 --> 00:18:23.952
You know, it's kind of, we've just, it's intentionally contracted for a while.

00:18:24.363 --> 00:18:24.613
Yeah.

00:18:24.613 --> 00:18:29.012
We have seven people now and we had 18, so we've, we've downscaled.

00:18:29.178 --> 00:18:31.577
Just to, just to make it work and we're doing well.

00:18:31.587 --> 00:18:38.907
And now it's on the uptick for the last few months as the, as the economy, by the way, uh, gets to be more difficult, which is what we're seeing.

00:18:39.678 --> 00:18:43.397
It forces people to find us and the discount sales folks.

00:18:43.978 --> 00:18:48.268
And so after six economic challenges in this County that we've been through.

00:18:48.772 --> 00:18:50.593
We always did just fine.

00:18:50.593 --> 00:18:54.153
And in fact, we almost felt guilty because we didn't race our prices.

00:18:54.153 --> 00:18:55.252
May there be a big recession.

00:18:55.252 --> 00:18:55.863
You know what I'm saying?

00:18:57.532 --> 00:18:59.853
By the way, you have a very long torso.

00:18:59.883 --> 00:19:08.272
I'm noticing that the money tree leaf is tickling you if you want to reach up and grab that bottom leaf there, you should be able to just that one right there.

00:19:08.522 --> 00:19:09.002
That's the one.

00:19:09.323 --> 00:19:10.653
Just try to pull it right off of there.

00:19:10.682 --> 00:19:11.012
All right.

00:19:11.282 --> 00:19:11.623
Yeah.

00:19:11.782 --> 00:19:12.413
Hate to do that.

00:19:12.423 --> 00:19:13.153
Well, you know.

00:19:13.153 --> 00:19:17.898
I'm a horticulturalist, well, if you know that plant, it'll grow a lot of new leaves in the future.

00:19:17.898 --> 00:19:18.396
It'll come back.

00:19:18.396 --> 00:19:19.323
It'll be just fine.

00:19:20.042 --> 00:19:21.623
Um, it's not bothering me.

00:19:21.722 --> 00:19:21.893
Sure.

00:19:21.893 --> 00:19:24.522
OCD was like, oh, that leaf is tickling the top of you.

00:19:24.992 --> 00:19:27.012
If it drops money, that's, that's okay with me.

00:19:27.012 --> 00:19:27.353
I'll just catch it.

00:19:27.353 --> 00:19:28.762
That's a prosperity plant right there.

00:19:28.823 --> 00:19:29.363
Oh, I like that.

00:19:29.363 --> 00:19:29.692
Um.

00:19:30.073 --> 00:19:30.722
Um.

00:19:31.278 --> 00:19:39.458
So like what kind of margins, uh, if you, if you're willing to share, do you, do you run on, on, on a business like this?

00:19:39.508 --> 00:19:48.218
It's not a secret to most of us in this business, even, you know, my, my end users, my, my buyers, my customers, they know that we would like to double our dollar.

00:19:48.278 --> 00:19:57.208
We have to, um, it's, it's actually, we find that to be more than that nowadays because of the increased costs of, um, Everything.

00:19:57.208 --> 00:19:59.077
I mean, right now it's everything, right?

00:19:59.077 --> 00:19:59.258
Yeah.

00:19:59.258 --> 00:20:03.607
Insurance for your people, people need to pay our property taxes are higher.

00:20:03.678 --> 00:20:08.897
We have things that legislation has passed that, you know, we have to pay a more sick leave and all that.

00:20:08.958 --> 00:20:10.278
And we already do pay.

00:20:10.377 --> 00:20:12.627
We already were paying for vacations.

00:20:12.627 --> 00:20:15.407
People earn their, we do that.

00:20:15.407 --> 00:20:15.637
Right.

00:20:15.637 --> 00:20:20.107
And we want to do that because the people are giving the life some of their time and that they'll never get back.

00:20:20.357 --> 00:20:20.538
Yeah.

00:20:20.538 --> 00:20:21.438
So I respect that.

00:20:22.317 --> 00:20:22.958
Um, yeah.

00:20:23.518 --> 00:20:28.238
So, when you say Benny, that's your son that's mostly running the business now, is that right?

00:20:28.238 --> 00:20:46.958
That's kind of partly what gives you enough time to pretty much lollygag around and well, and I haven't had that much time I haven't had that much time because we're so lean right now I'm trying to honor him and the business this time uh, we're, we're, it's been more difficult for us because we haven't had our retail like last time I ran for a year and a half, just for a comparable, right?

00:20:47.218 --> 00:20:47.538
Okay.

00:20:47.567 --> 00:20:51.107
During the pandemic, um, the, the business was, had more cashflow.

00:20:51.107 --> 00:20:51.280
Yeah.

00:20:51.280 --> 00:20:56.617
We had 18 people, but they would say to me, get the heck out of here because you're getting on our nerves.

00:20:56.617 --> 00:20:59.597
We can tell you're Joneson to go out and go to events and talk to people.

00:20:59.807 --> 00:21:01.637
Interesting experience this time.

00:21:01.728 --> 00:21:01.958
Totally.

00:21:01.998 --> 00:21:15.567
So I guess while I'm thinking that thought in my head, if you're listening to this and you're like, I think Ben Ostei is a really cool guy forward this podcast to somebody you know that might be on the fence or has never heard of him.

00:21:15.932 --> 00:21:17.012
Really appreciate that.

00:21:17.323 --> 00:21:20.502
Cause it's about you, the people, you know, um, it's.

00:21:21.867 --> 00:21:23.278
Serving is, is my heart.

00:21:23.397 --> 00:21:36.397
I mean, if you look at my background and we, we had the honor to be able to send containers and fill containers that would go to Philippines and Mombasa and other countries where churches and businessmen and women would pay for the shipping.

00:21:36.528 --> 00:21:39.157
All we had to do was put whatever we could in those containers.

00:21:39.607 --> 00:21:43.607
We just turned them onto it, whatever it was, because there were some things they couldn't get in their countries.

00:21:44.478 --> 00:21:47.377
And so that's what we would ship there, which was really unique.

00:21:47.468 --> 00:21:50.778
And, uh, so it's just been our model, right?

00:21:50.958 --> 00:21:55.627
I mean, when you're in retail, you're, you're serving, you should be right.

00:21:55.758 --> 00:21:55.938
Right.

00:21:56.107 --> 00:21:56.938
Well, selling is helping.

00:21:56.938 --> 00:21:58.538
If you're not, then you're doing it wrong.

00:21:58.857 --> 00:21:59.198
Right.

00:21:59.198 --> 00:22:02.298
And so we're, we're thankful that, that we're still alive.

00:22:02.298 --> 00:22:04.188
I mean, a lot of businesses don't make it this long.

00:22:04.188 --> 00:22:07.978
And so we're really appreciating that our people and they're Jones and hardcore.

00:22:07.978 --> 00:22:11.397
I mean, they're so, so ready for us to reopen.

00:22:11.397 --> 00:22:14.268
We hear it every day, every day, many times a day.

00:22:14.268 --> 00:22:22.673
So it's, it's a pressure that's, that's, you know, Understood, recognized, but we take it seriously and we want to get reopened.

00:22:22.732 --> 00:22:24.792
Is there a desired timeline?

00:22:24.803 --> 00:22:26.643
Like, could it be next spring open again?

00:22:26.883 --> 00:22:27.663
Thanks for asking.

00:22:27.663 --> 00:22:37.423
Uh, I've told people you get all of me or none of me, because in this job as a county commissioner, when I win in November 5th, I'm not seated until January 14th.

00:22:37.722 --> 00:22:38.002
Okay.

00:22:38.053 --> 00:22:45.222
So it's all clicking and we're, we've been geared for this all along to get the move done.

00:22:45.557 --> 00:22:50.307
And in place and Benny rocking and rolling with my crew and we're going to hire, we're already starting to rehire already.

00:22:50.377 --> 00:22:51.248
It's already upticking.

00:22:51.897 --> 00:22:59.778
So the closings, like I shared on the front end of this time was simultaneous, like we sell one by one and we start to rock and roll.

00:22:59.778 --> 00:23:01.758
So it's all set.

00:23:01.928 --> 00:23:04.238
So I'm not distracted because I told Benny.

00:23:04.553 --> 00:23:05.732
I'll be your lifeline.

00:23:05.813 --> 00:23:08.143
Occasionally you want to call dad and I'll be there for you.

00:23:08.722 --> 00:23:11.123
But this is full on full time here.

00:23:11.222 --> 00:23:17.242
So I want to be able to focus, concentrate, man, and give this, this first four years, all my full on a hundred percent attention.

00:23:17.272 --> 00:23:19.823
Well, you should really encourage him.

00:23:19.863 --> 00:23:20.153
I've been.

00:23:20.492 --> 00:23:29.593
Chasing him for local think tank in the past, but now it's more appropriate than ever, you know, to have 10 other business owners in a room, plus a business veteran to just be there.

00:23:29.593 --> 00:23:37.502
So he doesn't want to, you know, either make hard decisions without getting in with that or elsewise, you know, anyway, sure.

00:23:37.502 --> 00:23:39.563
I know that, uh, I'd welcome that conversation.

00:23:39.643 --> 00:23:41.413
Yeah, I'm sure he would be.

00:23:41.563 --> 00:23:43.323
He's such an intelligent young man.

00:23:43.323 --> 00:23:48.742
He's got so much, uh, fuel in the tank, but with three kids, Grant, you know, all in different things.

00:23:48.813 --> 00:23:49.232
Oh yeah.

00:23:49.232 --> 00:23:51.282
Well, it's going to be a whole new business trip.

00:23:51.903 --> 00:24:13.692
In six months than it is right now even yeah, not a whole new business But a lot more of it a lot of things to build, you know And scaling a team from seven back to twenty right and whatever else, you know, there's a lot There's a lot of head and then he also has a thing that that shop that I talked to you about the custom action He's calling he's already he's already put a name on it Um, architectural route.

00:24:13.782 --> 00:24:15.272
It's freaking, it's awesome.

00:24:15.942 --> 00:24:16.942
Uh, root architectural.

00:24:16.942 --> 00:24:17.343
I'm sorry.

00:24:17.722 --> 00:24:22.192
So it's, he's already got the, the emblem and everything.

00:24:22.192 --> 00:24:26.962
So his, his brand and his ideas and creativity is just off the chart.

00:24:26.962 --> 00:24:28.202
Yeah, it's his, it's totally his.

00:24:28.742 --> 00:24:31.653
And so he wanted to, I said, I don't want you to resent mom and I.

00:24:31.653 --> 00:24:32.932
Are you sure you want to do this?

00:24:32.942 --> 00:24:37.982
Cause when I run, man, this is the second time run and I've, I'm, there's a lot more momentum this time, you know?

00:24:38.022 --> 00:24:39.153
I said, I've been working on this.

00:24:39.153 --> 00:24:42.313
He knew I, he knew I had been working for building boats, man.

00:24:42.343 --> 00:24:44.212
Was your first run kind of an impulsive one?

00:24:44.573 --> 00:24:45.153
Not really.

00:24:45.153 --> 00:24:47.113
I wanted, for some reason it was late on my heart.

00:24:47.113 --> 00:24:50.083
I don't know why it's like, I've had that in Kenya.

00:24:50.083 --> 00:24:51.913
I said, who would ever want to go to Africa?

00:24:51.913 --> 00:24:53.413
And all of a sudden, boom, it hit my heart.

00:24:53.413 --> 00:24:56.643
And I was like, all of a sudden in Africa, I went there twice to Kenya.

00:24:56.643 --> 00:24:59.282
And it's just kind of one of those, it just was there.

00:24:59.292 --> 00:25:00.153
It hit me about.

00:25:00.498 --> 00:25:05.218
Uh, in 18 and I watched, I watched Tom Donnelly or heard him speak somewhere.

00:25:05.218 --> 00:25:07.817
I'm like county commissioner with what's a county commissioner, man.

00:25:07.817 --> 00:25:08.147
What are they?

00:25:08.337 --> 00:25:08.657
Yeah.

00:25:08.678 --> 00:25:10.968
But I was impressed with that for some reason.

00:25:11.357 --> 00:25:13.998
And I said, I don't want to run against an income, but he's, he's in there.

00:25:13.998 --> 00:25:15.567
He's people are happy with him.

00:25:15.657 --> 00:25:16.317
I'll just hang.

00:25:16.667 --> 00:25:18.988
So I waited until he served his last four years.

00:25:18.988 --> 00:25:38.258
Um, so let's, uh, go to what's next, like down the line, will you, like, you're kind of looking to dance out of uncle Benny's building supply almost entirely, and just kind of be the chairman of the board almost, uh, in two years time or something like that?

00:25:38.298 --> 00:25:38.518
Yep.

00:25:38.607 --> 00:25:38.907
Oh yeah.

00:25:38.907 --> 00:25:39.228
Totally.

00:25:39.228 --> 00:25:44.048
I'll just be there as a, I'll be a totally silent partner, you know, non, non present owner.

00:25:44.067 --> 00:25:44.897
Um, okay.

00:25:44.917 --> 00:25:47.077
In fact, because Benny is an owner.

00:25:47.252 --> 00:25:47.532
I'm sure.

00:25:47.563 --> 00:25:51.893
You know, uh, through tax ramifications, I have to hold a certain amount of percentage of ownership, right?

00:25:51.893 --> 00:25:55.133
But, but yeah, it'll be more of a silent and we'll kick more income over to him.

00:25:55.133 --> 00:25:56.413
That's another reason he wants me to get this job.

00:25:56.423 --> 00:25:57.042
Yeah.

00:25:57.042 --> 00:25:59.282
There's more potential income for him.

00:25:59.282 --> 00:26:01.262
And I want to share that with him and the crew.

00:26:01.282 --> 00:26:01.863
What's the salary?

00:26:01.923 --> 00:26:05.153
They raised the salary for city council a bunch, uh, recently.

00:26:05.163 --> 00:26:09.208
Is the commissioner's, uh, uh, Did they get, I was kind of amazed.

00:26:09.208 --> 00:26:17.807
I met with the county manager two weeks ago and it's 150, 000 for a county commissioner, 150, 991 to be exact, which is crazy.

00:26:17.837 --> 00:26:19.337
I actually looked into that.

00:26:19.337 --> 00:26:23.077
Like, cause I, I, I made noise about running for city council like 10 years ago or something.

00:26:23.748 --> 00:26:25.877
And I was like, I can't afford it.

00:26:25.887 --> 00:26:28.117
Like, but the county commissioners at that time.

00:26:28.597 --> 00:26:30.458
I think they made like 75 or so.

00:26:30.488 --> 00:26:35.528
It could be because I noticed in four years, it jumped from one 30 something, almost 20 G's.

00:26:35.607 --> 00:26:35.988
Wow.

00:26:36.048 --> 00:26:37.097
And it's statutory.

00:26:37.097 --> 00:26:43.087
They get a 3 percent raise every two years, which I, all this, I didn't even know when I ran, you know, maybe I'll run against you.

00:26:43.117 --> 00:26:44.317
You might want to try this.

00:26:44.478 --> 00:26:45.647
Kurt, big salary.

00:26:46.917 --> 00:26:47.897
You got the momentum.

00:26:48.202 --> 00:26:48.692
bring it back.

00:26:48.762 --> 00:26:52.042
Maybe, maybe a 2028 if you don't do a good job.

00:26:52.073 --> 00:26:54.202
You could be running for district two possibly.

00:26:54.242 --> 00:26:55.282
Oh, I see where you live.

00:26:55.373 --> 00:26:56.462
I live in Fort Collins here.

00:26:56.462 --> 00:26:56.643
Yeah.

00:26:56.643 --> 00:26:57.673
Just over in the west side.

00:26:57.732 --> 00:27:01.103
So if you, the cutoff is John Cofalas.

00:27:01.212 --> 00:27:02.893
Oh, John, I'd have to run district one.

00:27:02.893 --> 00:27:03.932
I'm not sure where you're at.

00:27:03.932 --> 00:27:05.323
I think he's my guy actually.

00:27:05.518 --> 00:27:06.978
He's been on my podcast before too.

00:27:07.028 --> 00:27:09.048
If he is, then that would be easy.

00:27:09.048 --> 00:27:10.758
He's not going to run after 26.

00:27:10.768 --> 00:27:11.867
He's shared that with me.

00:27:12.057 --> 00:27:12.857
He's made that known.

00:27:12.938 --> 00:27:13.498
All right, John.

00:27:13.498 --> 00:27:15.637
If I can get your endorsement, I could probably win.

00:27:15.678 --> 00:27:16.597
Consider him, John.

00:27:16.758 --> 00:27:16.928
Please.

00:27:17.298 --> 00:27:18.617
I like, you know, I'm a libertarian.

00:27:18.617 --> 00:27:20.367
You know, I'm not too crazy conservative.

00:27:20.367 --> 00:27:22.167
I'm a, I'm a conservationist.

00:27:22.188 --> 00:27:22.708
Why not?

00:27:22.798 --> 00:27:23.268
Why not?

00:27:23.298 --> 00:27:24.597
I learned a lot from Johnny.

00:27:24.597 --> 00:27:31.798
He always had this little notebook and I told him that at earth day, I'm part of the, um, sustainability group, you know, Kelly Falbo and Tony.

00:27:31.798 --> 00:27:32.218
Hi guys.

00:27:32.887 --> 00:27:36.798
Um, He would carry this little notebook and I had one on me that day at the earth day.

00:27:36.798 --> 00:27:45.218
We had a booth and I said, John, one of the key things I learned from you was writing down what everybody said on this little spiral notebook.

00:27:45.538 --> 00:27:46.228
I was impressed.

00:27:46.228 --> 00:27:46.917
I would a good listener.

00:27:46.917 --> 00:27:51.198
You were, you know, and are, and I said, so here it is from you, man.

00:27:51.198 --> 00:28:00.417
This is from you four years ago, because I shadowed all three of the commissioners for a year and a half back in the pandemic days when we had more heavier cashflow, I did have a lot more hours.

00:28:00.417 --> 00:28:01.147
So, I mean, I went.

00:28:02.258 --> 00:28:03.897
They're like, Hey, keep it at six feet, man.

00:28:03.948 --> 00:28:04.788
No, I know, man.

00:28:04.807 --> 00:28:07.377
Well, that was later, but at first it wasn't there.

00:28:07.377 --> 00:28:07.817
Right.

00:28:07.857 --> 00:28:10.798
And so I'm, I'm going to Fort Lupton, all these MOP meetings.

00:28:10.798 --> 00:28:14.417
I mean, I'm everywhere because I really wanted to make sure I could do the job.

00:28:14.488 --> 00:28:14.657
Yeah.

00:28:14.657 --> 00:28:14.958
Right.

00:28:15.258 --> 00:28:17.038
Cause I really didn't know exactly what it was.

00:28:17.617 --> 00:28:17.897
Yeah.

00:28:17.938 --> 00:28:18.817
And so I'll tell you that.

00:28:18.817 --> 00:28:20.458
There's probably not anybody to really teach you.

00:28:20.508 --> 00:28:20.887
No.

00:28:20.887 --> 00:28:21.077
Right.

00:28:21.077 --> 00:28:26.087
There isn't like a commissioner trainer, the other commissioners, hopefully there are people that will teach you.

00:28:26.228 --> 00:28:28.407
Talk to you and stuff, but yeah, hopefully they'll be cool.

00:28:28.407 --> 00:28:33.288
I mean, because they have, they're all liaisons to like one commissioner is a liaison to this area.

00:28:33.288 --> 00:28:44.508
One's got a passion for highway and road construction or another one's into the ranch and medical, you know, healthcare, you know, so everybody's got a different, different passion, right?

00:28:44.708 --> 00:28:45.008
Which is cool.

00:28:45.863 --> 00:28:46.913
And they cover each other.

00:28:47.012 --> 00:28:50.452
So do you imagine this as like, you can do two four year terms?

00:28:50.452 --> 00:28:52.403
Is that three up to three, three, four?

00:28:52.403 --> 00:28:53.722
So it could be a last chapter.

00:28:53.732 --> 00:28:55.242
I'm healthy, healthy.

00:28:55.242 --> 00:28:57.932
I mean, I'm 66 and I'm not going to start any other businesses.

00:28:58.643 --> 00:28:59.653
No, I have no intention.

00:28:59.663 --> 00:29:02.673
Do you want to facilitate a loco think tank chapter as a possible side hustle?

00:29:02.702 --> 00:29:03.063
I don't know.

00:29:03.063 --> 00:29:05.712
I might, I might like 10, 15 hours a week, a month.

00:29:06.073 --> 00:29:06.792
Take a look at it.

00:29:06.792 --> 00:29:07.232
Okay.

00:29:07.303 --> 00:29:08.032
I'm always open.

00:29:08.032 --> 00:29:09.432
I'm always open to what.

00:29:09.968 --> 00:29:13.097
What's out there because I'm, I do like to learn.

00:29:13.097 --> 00:29:15.538
I don't like to go stagnant and spin wheels.

00:29:16.127 --> 00:29:16.978
So I'm very active.

00:29:16.978 --> 00:29:26.167
I mean, one thing about me is I'm so go, go, go that it's more concerning about me, not overdoing it then, then sitting around too much.

00:29:26.167 --> 00:29:26.917
I'm not that guy.

00:29:27.198 --> 00:29:28.198
I I'm a producer.

00:29:28.218 --> 00:29:28.887
I have to.

00:29:29.107 --> 00:29:30.198
Well, and that's the thing.

00:29:30.198 --> 00:29:40.157
If, if that's one of the reasons that local think tank exists is for when Uh, smart business veterans sell their thing, and they run out of purpose fulfilling things to do.

00:29:40.157 --> 00:29:45.627
They can take up golf, and they can take up chasing younger women, and you know, most of it isn't that good for them.

00:29:45.657 --> 00:29:46.067
Right.

00:29:46.097 --> 00:29:46.357
Right.

00:29:46.387 --> 00:29:48.968
Uh, but doing something like that is actually useful, so.

00:29:48.978 --> 00:29:49.077
Right.

00:29:49.268 --> 00:29:55.178
Oh, and while I'm thinking about it, listeners, uh, ThinkerFest is October 17th, uh, and you should come.

00:29:55.178 --> 00:29:56.548
I'll give you a free ticket if you want.

00:29:56.557 --> 00:29:59.448
It's a kind of an all day business learning event.

00:29:59.948 --> 00:30:02.538
Um, I mean, yeah, I mean, tickets are only 1.

00:30:02.958 --> 00:30:04.738
97 with a discount.

00:30:04.738 --> 00:30:11.807
So anyway, uh, check it out out there and, uh, oh, let's, I'm going to set up a new, uh, promo code.

00:30:12.048 --> 00:30:20.728
It'll be, uh, Oh, this podcast wouldn't come out until right before it, but we'll call it, uh, experience 100 for 100 off your ticket.

00:30:20.788 --> 00:30:21.298
Nice.

00:30:21.387 --> 00:30:21.607
Yeah.

00:30:21.627 --> 00:30:22.038
Why not?

00:30:22.097 --> 00:30:22.417
Why not?

00:30:22.557 --> 00:30:26.627
I learned a lot at your, at one of your meetings down in Loveland, I think two years ago, I didn't know you.

00:30:26.627 --> 00:30:36.877
I Was happy to see you had come this direction, uh, yeah, we've had some Loveland members, but yeah, we've got there, uh, at the, at the chamber.

00:30:37.448 --> 00:30:40.238
Uh, we've got three groups that meet at the better business bureau in Windsor.

00:30:40.238 --> 00:30:41.518
So we've always been kind of regional.

00:30:41.518 --> 00:30:43.907
But my gravity is the heaviest here in Fort Collins.

00:30:43.907 --> 00:30:45.028
And so we do have.

00:30:45.617 --> 00:30:49.268
60 ish percent, 55 percent of our members are Fort Collins located.

00:30:50.038 --> 00:30:59.778
I'm surprised how many people I knew, know, when I see your pictures of folks, like, you know, the William Oliver and he's he's he was on the podcast, but he hasn't, he hasn't in a chapter yet.

00:30:59.778 --> 00:31:01.657
I really should call on him properly.

00:31:01.698 --> 00:31:03.077
Uh, cause I was impressed by him.

00:31:03.167 --> 00:31:07.897
I like the way he did business and we collaborated during the pandemic.

00:31:07.897 --> 00:31:10.678
I talked to a lot of different business sectors.

00:31:10.678 --> 00:31:12.208
Just what else could you do?

00:31:12.417 --> 00:31:15.948
I was trying to just encourage people and connect people, like we're all going through this.

00:31:15.948 --> 00:31:23.597
So, Hey, I'd talked to some bankers, my attorney and other attorneys and connect them, the farmers with the restaurants, uh, farmers with grocery stores.

00:31:23.917 --> 00:31:27.188
And we had like, I was running about an average of 80 zooms.

00:31:27.258 --> 00:31:31.978
I didn't even know what a zoom was or how to really function until I got my Mac going and got a big screen going.

00:31:31.978 --> 00:31:32.583
And we were just.

00:31:32.932 --> 00:31:34.553
Learning as we went, right, right.

00:31:34.772 --> 00:31:40.563
And we would zoom people for, I think we're doing 20 a week, average 15 to 20 a week, several months.

00:31:40.982 --> 00:31:44.823
Like, well, because you, you had, what were the beer guys doing?

00:31:45.002 --> 00:31:46.482
They were, they were loading up, man.

00:31:46.482 --> 00:31:47.423
Their vats were full.

00:31:47.432 --> 00:31:48.732
Their beer was totally spoil.

00:31:49.063 --> 00:31:52.123
So I connected some, some all of a sudden had those, uh, the cans.

00:31:52.123 --> 00:31:52.823
What are the big cans?

00:31:52.823 --> 00:31:53.853
Growlers.

00:31:54.093 --> 00:31:55.732
Some had a heavy stock of crawlers.

00:31:55.742 --> 00:31:58.173
Some had the 22 ounce glass bottles.

00:31:58.173 --> 00:32:03.722
And so we were just trying to, Everybody really, you have that dude, you know, bring me a truckload.

00:32:03.732 --> 00:32:07.492
So they were trading, they were helping each other out, right.

00:32:07.903 --> 00:32:08.792
To save their beer.

00:32:08.803 --> 00:32:09.923
That's just one example.

00:32:10.212 --> 00:32:10.452
Yeah.

00:32:10.492 --> 00:32:13.313
Uh, steers were, were, you couldn't go to the feed lots.

00:32:13.313 --> 00:32:14.682
They were slam packed.

00:32:15.133 --> 00:32:18.343
So we were having problems with, um, the farmers.

00:32:18.462 --> 00:32:21.413
Where do I go to butcher my steers because they're getting too big.

00:32:21.682 --> 00:32:25.133
You're supposed to butcher steers generally about 1, 200 pounds.

00:32:25.423 --> 00:32:28.373
Some of these bad boys were getting up to 700 pounds.

00:32:29.143 --> 00:32:31.603
I mean, you talk about that's not cool.

00:32:31.643 --> 00:32:34.553
That's not a good thing because it's a lot harder to work with.

00:32:34.553 --> 00:32:35.853
I mean, I've done it before.

00:32:35.853 --> 00:32:37.093
Butcher doesn't know how to deal with that.

00:32:37.093 --> 00:32:37.782
Farm slaughter.

00:32:37.932 --> 00:32:39.113
It's tough work.

00:32:39.113 --> 00:32:39.462
I've done it.

00:32:39.462 --> 00:32:43.363
Move that quarter of beef around as a one person when it started that big.

00:32:43.363 --> 00:32:44.452
And then hang the quarters.

00:32:44.452 --> 00:32:46.542
It takes two or three guys to hang the quarters in the cooler.

00:32:46.553 --> 00:32:47.403
I've done it all, man.

00:32:47.403 --> 00:32:49.373
So I got an appreciation.

00:32:49.593 --> 00:32:53.593
That you don't get a broker steers to not really.

00:32:53.593 --> 00:32:57.093
Well, we horse trade, we just traded into some beef.

00:32:57.373 --> 00:33:00.603
If somebody needs some doors and we have something, they, and they're heavy on beef.

00:33:00.613 --> 00:33:01.103
Sure.

00:33:01.103 --> 00:33:02.583
We, we, we love trading.

00:33:03.063 --> 00:33:05.032
That's part of the, that's free market, man.

00:33:05.173 --> 00:33:05.633
For sure.

00:33:05.653 --> 00:33:06.252
I love that.

00:33:06.492 --> 00:33:07.022
For sure.

00:33:07.442 --> 00:33:14.907
Um, so I feel like it's probably a good time to jump in the time machine and learn about little, Uncle Benny.

00:33:14.917 --> 00:33:15.397
Little Benny?

00:33:15.468 --> 00:33:15.998
Little Benny.

00:33:16.008 --> 00:33:19.417
That's funny you say that because it really did start as Little Benny.

00:33:19.428 --> 00:33:19.877
Is that right?

00:33:19.877 --> 00:33:21.337
It was this thing with the recycling trip.

00:33:21.428 --> 00:33:22.397
It was really bizarre.

00:33:23.127 --> 00:33:27.018
We lived in, okay, Dad came over from Switzerland on the Queen Mary as an immigrant.

00:33:27.097 --> 00:33:28.268
And as a Swiss immigrant.

00:33:28.317 --> 00:33:30.807
Swiss, but kind of on the French y side of Swiss, right?

00:33:30.827 --> 00:33:33.117
Ah, he was in Zurich, central, central.

00:33:33.188 --> 00:33:33.377
Yeah?

00:33:33.387 --> 00:33:33.577
Okay.

00:33:33.577 --> 00:33:34.538
Yeah, it wasn't the French side.

00:33:34.548 --> 00:33:35.557
Not the Geneva side.

00:33:35.928 --> 00:33:38.857
Or the, or, or Or Lozano, the Italian, no.

00:33:39.137 --> 00:33:40.742
Well But that is a Swiss name, not a French name.

00:33:40.742 --> 00:33:41.468
You're catching that.

00:33:41.468 --> 00:33:42.847
It's Austrian first.

00:33:42.907 --> 00:33:43.228
Oh.

00:33:43.528 --> 00:33:45.657
Then it It became Italy.

00:33:45.738 --> 00:33:46.657
I've been to Aste.

00:33:46.657 --> 00:33:48.548
There's a, there's a village there and I've been there twice.

00:33:48.548 --> 00:33:49.298
Took my kids there.

00:33:49.298 --> 00:33:54.657
I wanted to have them walk the ground and they're beginning as far back as I could go with a couple of generations back.

00:33:54.657 --> 00:33:54.847
Right.

00:33:54.847 --> 00:33:55.768
That, that means a lot to me.

00:33:56.438 --> 00:33:57.317
So we did that, man.

00:33:57.317 --> 00:33:58.028
It was so cool.

00:33:58.057 --> 00:34:08.898
And then, um, but they came over as blue collar workers and we had a construction company in Zurich and, uh, dad's parents left Zurich dad, dad left.

00:34:09.018 --> 00:34:12.617
Well, they didn't want my dad to work as hard.

00:34:12.617 --> 00:34:12.657
Yeah.

00:34:13.123 --> 00:34:15.782
As the other general, the previous generation.

00:34:16.103 --> 00:34:20.992
So they said, look, we're going to send you to lose Lucerne and you're going to be getting an apprenticeship in architecture.

00:34:21.213 --> 00:34:21.632
Okay.

00:34:22.233 --> 00:34:28.913
And I will say this dad said that I'd rather shovel shit than push a pencil because he really wanted to farm.

00:34:28.978 --> 00:34:30.248
I was talking about manure.

00:34:30.297 --> 00:34:30.608
Interesting.

00:34:30.617 --> 00:34:31.657
He wanted to farm.

00:34:32.068 --> 00:34:34.617
But in those days, your parents made your decisions for you.

00:34:34.617 --> 00:34:35.128
Yeah.

00:34:35.177 --> 00:34:37.498
That was not, that was not a, an option.

00:34:37.568 --> 00:34:37.898
Right.

00:34:37.898 --> 00:34:39.878
It was basically, we know what's best for you.

00:34:39.878 --> 00:34:40.367
This is what we're going to do.

00:34:40.387 --> 00:34:40.847
Yeah.

00:34:41.407 --> 00:34:43.748
So dad came over here with that apprenticeship, right.

00:34:43.818 --> 00:34:56.302
In 57, as an immigrant and somebody put up two grand US at that time, it was comparable to 2000 bucks as a, Oh, it was, uh, It was kind of a, not a, really a bond, but, but almost like they'll be good or whatever.

00:34:56.302 --> 00:34:58.163
I'll help take care of this person or whatever.

00:34:58.163 --> 00:35:00.693
You have to get a job in a certain period of time.

00:35:01.282 --> 00:35:07.099
And if you're not an asset to America, that is used to send you from whence you came right back.

00:35:07.099 --> 00:35:09.072
And that was the way it was.

00:35:09.072 --> 00:35:10.708
That seems like a pretty sensible immigration system.

00:35:10.708 --> 00:35:11.402
That's pretty wild.

00:35:11.862 --> 00:35:17.702
If you know somebody that, that wants to vouch for you, then you can get in, otherwise, uh, you can't.

00:35:17.963 --> 00:35:18.342
It's just.

00:35:18.748 --> 00:35:19.557
That's the way it was.

00:35:19.577 --> 00:35:20.728
Look where it is today.

00:35:20.728 --> 00:35:24.291
It's a lot more sensible than it is today, but we'll get into it more if you want to.

00:35:24.291 --> 00:35:27.384
It's pretty, well, it was very interesting to me and, and, and Dad loved America.

00:35:27.384 --> 00:35:29.101
Well, at least then you know that there's like, add value.

00:35:29.101 --> 00:35:30.907
If you don't add value, bye.

00:35:31.467 --> 00:35:31.697
Sure.

00:35:31.838 --> 00:35:33.518
And I don't know the deets, Dad's gone now.

00:35:33.527 --> 00:35:37.552
There's probably a lot of abuses of that kind of power and system and stuff too, but.

00:35:37.612 --> 00:35:38.253
No doubt.

00:35:38.313 --> 00:35:41.443
I have the letters from dad being signed by governor lamb at that time.

00:35:41.443 --> 00:35:51.753
Cause I remember when I was 12, dad got his American citizenship and he worked like, yeah, tell me what, what happened when he bounced from his apprenticeship and he started a farm land.

00:35:51.753 --> 00:35:55.813
Somehow he goes to, he has a job possibility in Detroit, Michigan of all places.

00:35:55.813 --> 00:35:57.503
He goes there, he can't hardly speak English.

00:35:57.503 --> 00:36:01.793
He can't drive because you couldn't, most people couldn't afford to have a driver's license.

00:36:02.132 --> 00:36:08.463
Uh, or in a car, first of all, over there, it's all street cars and walking, whatever, and trains.

00:36:08.492 --> 00:36:16.302
So, uh, dad just got on with this firm in Detroit and then he met my mom and they just fell in love.

00:36:16.342 --> 00:36:21.043
And that was over, man, within three or four months, they were married and I was born in Detroit.

00:36:21.083 --> 00:36:24.672
They came out here and we landed in Evans for about three years.

00:36:24.682 --> 00:36:26.333
First trailer park, lived in trailer park.

00:36:26.572 --> 00:36:26.963
That's all they could afford.

00:36:26.963 --> 00:36:29.193
How did, what drew him to Colorado?

00:36:29.458 --> 00:36:31.128
Uh, he, they had been, that's a good one.

00:36:31.128 --> 00:36:32.777
He, they'd been out to Estes Park.

00:36:32.788 --> 00:36:33.518
He was a mountain climber.

00:36:33.518 --> 00:36:33.887
Okay.

00:36:33.967 --> 00:36:34.818
So he loved mountains.

00:36:34.898 --> 00:36:35.148
Yup.

00:36:35.288 --> 00:36:39.157
So he saw those mountains and, uh, it drew, drew him.

00:36:39.157 --> 00:36:41.748
He belonged to a mountaineering club in Boulder for a little while.

00:36:41.938 --> 00:36:52.117
When we first got here and, uh, they would do snow caves and whatever, but he used to say, uh, he knew his number was almost up, which meant he had lost several friends, mountain climbing.

00:36:52.838 --> 00:36:55.557
And he felt like when he got here, he started up again.

00:36:55.777 --> 00:36:57.447
And he's, he just got this bad vibe.

00:36:57.447 --> 00:36:59.378
I need three more.

00:37:00.177 --> 00:37:00.858
I'm done anymore.

00:37:00.867 --> 00:37:01.137
Yeah.

00:37:01.447 --> 00:37:02.108
So that was smart.

00:37:02.157 --> 00:37:04.297
But anyway, so he came over to Evans.

00:37:04.338 --> 00:37:14.527
Then we lived there for a little bit and then they moved us to Lafayette, lived in the second trailer park, came back up here and lived in the third final park, uh, trailer park in on 57th and Loveland.

00:37:14.987 --> 00:37:16.728
So we came over in about 71.

00:37:16.818 --> 00:37:19.228
So that's what we've been here for over 50 years in.

00:37:19.282 --> 00:37:21.882
And what was he doing for employ during this time?

00:37:21.893 --> 00:37:24.302
Well, he'd work as an architect, Stearns Rogers first.

00:37:24.373 --> 00:37:24.742
Okay.

00:37:24.782 --> 00:37:29.693
And then he came up here and he got on with, uh, Russ Miller was the only structural engineer.

00:37:30.268 --> 00:37:31.557
The Rocky Mountain Bank building.

00:37:31.557 --> 00:37:32.068
Foco.

00:37:32.188 --> 00:37:32.487
Okay.

00:37:32.487 --> 00:37:33.268
When dad started here.

00:37:33.418 --> 00:37:33.748
All right.

00:37:33.777 --> 00:37:35.637
That was just one and maybe one more.

00:37:35.637 --> 00:37:36.297
Chuck Robinson.

00:37:36.297 --> 00:37:37.588
There was two structural engineers.

00:37:37.588 --> 00:37:38.367
That's it, man.

00:37:38.807 --> 00:37:41.628
Now you know, we have probably 50 to a hundred or more here now.

00:37:41.657 --> 00:37:41.777
Yeah.

00:37:41.777 --> 00:37:43.458
I just ran into Blake Larson the other day.

00:37:43.728 --> 00:37:44.297
I've heard that name.

00:37:44.297 --> 00:37:46.188
Yeah, I've heard that name, but I don't know him.

00:37:46.188 --> 00:37:52.367
But, so dad had a comparable apprenticeship degree that was, it was comparable, they said to a structural engineer.

00:37:52.427 --> 00:37:52.577
Okay.

00:37:52.577 --> 00:37:54.827
Had he pushed it a little bit more, he could, could've gotten his stamp.

00:37:54.918 --> 00:37:55.338
Interesting.

00:37:55.338 --> 00:37:57.438
But he decided to work for Russell Miller and, um.

00:37:58.242 --> 00:38:02.393
And they did that, and then he went, uh, his final years, he actually retired with David Neenan.

00:38:02.393 --> 00:38:03.652
Well, David Neenan was still here.

00:38:03.672 --> 00:38:03.943
Gotcha.

00:38:04.103 --> 00:38:06.742
So he worked for, uh, David for a while as a structural detailer.

00:38:06.842 --> 00:38:07.112
Okay.

00:38:07.112 --> 00:38:08.972
So, so we have a lot of roots here.

00:38:08.983 --> 00:38:10.672
And did you have other siblings, too?

00:38:10.893 --> 00:38:11.853
Yeah, brother and sister.

00:38:12.003 --> 00:38:17.952
That came along after He's, uh, my brother is five years, uh, three years younger, and my sister's five years younger.

00:38:17.992 --> 00:38:18.293
Okay.

00:38:18.628 --> 00:38:19.887
Yeah, all still living around here.

00:38:19.898 --> 00:38:20.378
Yeah, yeah.

00:38:20.398 --> 00:38:20.708
Yeah.

00:38:20.737 --> 00:38:28.467
So, tell me what was, uh, what was little Benny like when he was, uh, say 12 years old in, what, Loveland High School by then?

00:38:28.467 --> 00:38:28.938
Is that right?

00:38:29.068 --> 00:38:30.538
Yeah, he was a good, good kid.

00:38:30.657 --> 00:38:30.887
Yeah.

00:38:30.887 --> 00:38:34.538
Um, he, uh, he was always Were you big already?

00:38:34.608 --> 00:38:34.967
Tall?

00:38:35.262 --> 00:38:36.413
Yeah, I was pretty tall.

00:38:36.413 --> 00:38:42.143
I'm a 6'1 6'1 12 and uh, we lived in the country, we've been living where we are now for almost 40 years.

00:38:42.282 --> 00:38:42.862
Oh, is that right?

00:38:42.882 --> 00:38:44.253
So he, he grew up in Larimer down there.

00:38:44.253 --> 00:38:44.782
And where is that?

00:38:44.782 --> 00:38:45.862
South, south end.

00:38:46.202 --> 00:38:49.563
Southwest Loveland south of Loveland, uh, south of Uncle Benny's up in the hill.

00:38:49.572 --> 00:38:50.282
Okay, sure, yeah.

00:38:50.293 --> 00:38:51.123
We've got a small acreage there.

00:38:51.132 --> 00:38:53.123
Oh, there's some great properties over there.

00:38:53.123 --> 00:38:57.213
Like in the, in the farther away future, those will be some of the prime time properties.

00:38:57.733 --> 00:38:58.483
View lots.

00:38:58.913 --> 00:39:01.293
Our view is not, we'll never, we'll never lose it.

00:39:01.342 --> 00:39:03.262
I mean, where we are, we kept seven acres.

00:39:03.262 --> 00:39:05.182
I chiseled three, four and a half out and sold them.

00:39:05.182 --> 00:39:21.532
In fact, I, that's one of the motives of what I'm, why I'm pursuing commissioner, uh, position is I worked with, uh, I don't know if you know, Darryl Clawson, if you remember Darryl, he used to own Caleb years ago and Scripps and Howard radio station, he was a commissioner here back in the 85.

00:39:22.333 --> 00:39:22.463
Okay.

00:39:22.793 --> 00:39:24.952
I went in for a subdivision process.

00:39:25.373 --> 00:39:29.862
And Darrell was one of the three commissioners and I had to defray cost on a little development there.

00:39:30.342 --> 00:39:34.733
And, uh, so I was asking for another lot, which was not really supposed to happen.

00:39:34.742 --> 00:39:35.043
Right.

00:39:35.043 --> 00:39:35.302
Right.

00:39:35.413 --> 00:39:36.813
But I went ahead and asked anyway.

00:39:37.512 --> 00:39:40.842
And so I went in planner says, no, I'm going to have to say you can't do that.

00:39:40.853 --> 00:39:41.753
And I said, that's fine.

00:39:41.753 --> 00:39:44.402
I went in there and two of them said, ah, I don't know if we should let Mr.

00:39:44.402 --> 00:39:45.182
Roste do this.

00:39:45.182 --> 00:39:46.293
And Darrell goes, wait a minute.

00:39:47.132 --> 00:39:48.802
What he's saying is makes sense.

00:39:48.802 --> 00:39:50.092
I think we should reconsider this.

00:39:50.092 --> 00:39:51.643
So it was really cool that.

00:39:52.202 --> 00:39:55.992
That's when I've learned that things can be made easier.

00:39:55.992 --> 00:39:57.422
And that's one of my three points.

00:39:57.463 --> 00:39:58.032
Here we go.

00:39:58.032 --> 00:39:58.902
Here's my three points.

00:39:59.623 --> 00:40:00.802
Things need to become more.

00:40:01.237 --> 00:40:08.827
Reasonable affordable and sustainable then they have, you know, they used to be like that, but they've we've lost that Yeah, and I want to get that back.

00:40:08.847 --> 00:40:13.387
Those are three of the points that I like Well, they all feed on each other kind of too many businesses have left Kurt.

00:40:13.518 --> 00:40:13.867
Yeah.

00:40:13.867 --> 00:40:15.628
Well, how many times do we raise the world?

00:40:15.628 --> 00:40:23.597
They're more affordable if they're more affordable or more sustainable all those things kind of feed together, too So they're on this on this level of County Commissioner.

00:40:23.597 --> 00:40:49.523
There are many things that I could do that would help Cut the red tape and, uh, without sacrificing health, without sacrificing, uh, climate, uh, you know, what roofs are, are 60 now, uh, I think is what I've heard recently in Fort Collins, the insulation, which is, I get it, but that's a lot of cost, a lot of, uh, you know, premium product.

00:40:50.543 --> 00:40:52.532
It ain't that cold here, Jack.

00:40:52.682 --> 00:40:54.163
Like, I'm from North Dakota.

00:40:54.523 --> 00:40:54.682
Right.

00:40:54.713 --> 00:40:58.083
You know, if you're gonna put an R 60 on your roof in North Dakota, well, yes, you're smart.

00:40:58.443 --> 00:40:58.733
Right.

00:40:58.762 --> 00:41:01.193
But it just isn't that cold here.

00:41:01.233 --> 00:41:12.148
No, there's some things that are just really, I mean, I, we added two and a half inches of insulation poly iso to our house, and then stuccoed over that because we had put, We had built it out two by fours years ago.

00:41:12.163 --> 00:41:12.282
Yeah.

00:41:12.288 --> 00:41:12.387
Yeah.

00:41:12.538 --> 00:41:12.748
you know?

00:41:13.137 --> 00:41:13.288
Right.

00:41:13.288 --> 00:41:18.898
And so we have in fact enjoyed the tightness, you know, the, it's lovely insulated factor on the outside walls.

00:41:18.898 --> 00:41:21.568
But we don't have 60 in the, in the attics yet.

00:41:21.568 --> 00:41:25.918
You know, I mean, I, I wanna blow some more in there and beef that up, so I get it, like you said.

00:41:25.918 --> 00:41:28.018
But is that affordable choice?

00:41:28.018 --> 00:41:29.157
Is that It's a choice.

00:41:29.163 --> 00:41:29.583
Choice.

00:41:29.588 --> 00:41:29.847
It is.

00:41:29.878 --> 00:41:30.688
Thank obligation.

00:41:30.688 --> 00:41:31.047
Thank you.

00:41:31.077 --> 00:41:31.527
You know.

00:41:31.557 --> 00:41:31.858
Thank you.

00:41:32.282 --> 00:41:33.643
Um, is the way I see it anyway.

00:41:33.672 --> 00:41:33.963
Right.

00:41:34.132 --> 00:41:35.152
Oh, so, okay.

00:41:35.152 --> 00:41:39.592
So good little Benny getting good grades, uh, tall kid.

00:41:39.842 --> 00:41:41.222
He's doing basketball or anything like that.

00:41:41.342 --> 00:41:43.813
Did some sports and squirrels in the property.

00:41:44.023 --> 00:41:44.043
Yeah.

00:41:44.043 --> 00:41:47.842
He liked the four H and we had horses and so he'd ride.

00:41:47.932 --> 00:41:53.072
Uh, as a matter of fact, we, we go out counting, we take mules and horses in and we go in and we're kind of like outfitters.

00:41:53.072 --> 00:41:53.833
We go way in.

00:41:53.842 --> 00:41:54.342
It's pretty serious.

00:41:54.342 --> 00:41:55.023
It's brutal.

00:41:55.023 --> 00:42:02.557
It's actually brutal, but, uh, we come back appreciating and our wives and our kids and our, you know, If you're looking for a pathway, let me know sometime.

00:42:02.557 --> 00:42:06.958
Cause I went on a couple of occasions when I first got to town and I haven't really enjoyed that yet.

00:42:06.958 --> 00:42:08.108
But I'll keep that in mind.

00:42:08.148 --> 00:42:08.847
I'd jive with it.

00:42:08.867 --> 00:42:09.677
Cause it would be good.

00:42:09.708 --> 00:42:12.148
It'd be good to have some more help and have other people go in.

00:42:12.148 --> 00:42:14.807
We do try to bring in some, some company once in a while.

00:42:14.927 --> 00:42:23.307
I don't, uh, I could find a four wheeler, but I'm not sure if I can, I probably find a horse too, if I ask around, if you've got a horse, somebody out there listening wants to, uh, How old are you?

00:42:23.632 --> 00:42:24.333
I'm 50.

00:42:24.333 --> 00:42:25.322
It just turned 50.

00:42:25.532 --> 00:42:28.652
So when I turned 50, I said, that's the last time I carry my own carcass.

00:42:28.652 --> 00:42:30.512
And I'm, I want, I want to ride a mule one.

00:42:30.512 --> 00:42:30.722
Right.

00:42:30.733 --> 00:42:31.103
Right.

00:42:31.182 --> 00:42:32.353
So I bought my first mule when I was 50.

00:42:33.293 --> 00:42:33.543
Perfect.

00:42:33.563 --> 00:42:33.943
I like it.

00:42:33.943 --> 00:42:41.003
So I've been listening to a Bear Grylls podcast and some other mule riders, Clayton, uh, there's a few out there now.

00:42:41.032 --> 00:42:41.733
Oh, that sounds good.

00:42:41.733 --> 00:42:41.873
Yeah.

00:42:41.873 --> 00:42:44.603
You can learn about mule riding and breeding online these days.

00:42:44.893 --> 00:42:45.722
That'd be great.

00:42:45.762 --> 00:42:49.762
I fortunately got one that was trained and then second and third ones were trained too.

00:42:49.762 --> 00:42:51.222
So they, our grandchildren ride them.

00:42:51.222 --> 00:42:51.643
They're so.

00:42:52.152 --> 00:42:53.023
I love mules, man.

00:42:53.023 --> 00:42:53.992
They're so cool.

00:42:54.003 --> 00:42:55.563
I've interacted with a few, it's pretty fun.

00:42:56.003 --> 00:43:00.643
So, uh, did you go off to, like, college after?

00:43:00.643 --> 00:43:03.333
Or any big changes in your life in the high school years?

00:43:03.353 --> 00:43:04.813
Yeah, I went to, uh, NJC.

00:43:04.893 --> 00:43:09.697
Actually, let's start with, uh, back in the day, I went to, um, Larimer County Vo Tec.

00:43:10.688 --> 00:43:11.217
Front range.

00:43:11.297 --> 00:43:11.708
All right.

00:43:11.898 --> 00:43:14.697
So I did two years there, uh, ornamental horticulture.

00:43:14.697 --> 00:43:16.557
So at that time, it was a cool program.

00:43:16.557 --> 00:43:23.518
They would do half the day at the high school and half a day in, in the county boutique vocational, uh, tech school, which was really great.

00:43:23.557 --> 00:43:23.927
Yeah.

00:43:23.987 --> 00:43:29.608
We had a greenhouse there and I grew like, I don't know, 90 tomato plants and you had to record them.

00:43:29.608 --> 00:43:34.358
And I mean, so it was a very, very, uh, it was an awesome experience there.

00:43:34.418 --> 00:43:36.637
Um, that's, that's actually also an FFA.

00:43:36.637 --> 00:43:38.478
Is what, uh, your, uh, your, uh, Yeah.

00:43:38.478 --> 00:43:39.347
What your dad wanted to be.

00:43:39.347 --> 00:43:40.858
Did your dad, was he a hobby farmer?

00:43:41.108 --> 00:43:41.407
It's funny.

00:43:41.407 --> 00:43:43.327
You catch that, Kurt, because good listening.

00:43:43.387 --> 00:43:45.367
Um, because you caught that.

00:43:45.367 --> 00:43:53.197
We feel like we feel like we were living out my dad's life that he, he actually got to enjoy it watching us.

00:43:53.237 --> 00:43:53.427
Yeah.

00:43:53.427 --> 00:43:53.847
You know what I mean?

00:43:53.878 --> 00:43:57.427
So that it, it came to fruition, which is kind of amazing.

00:43:57.697 --> 00:44:20.217
I have a, we have a quarter acre over off of LaPorte, uh, here in old town Fort Collins, but I've got, you know, a chicken coop and a, like I've, I've literally got Two and a half gallons of tomatoes that I'm gonna process this weekend that have come off my garden I've raised seven butternut squashes and a bunch of pumpkins and so it's like a little farm in the city Yeah, you know, but I can walk to the coffee shop.

00:44:20.418 --> 00:44:20.898
That's great.

00:44:21.588 --> 00:44:35.818
You got it all but my dad's a farmer in North Dakota you know, and so I got the green thumb and stuff and it is a bit of a Homage, I suppose, to, cause it's a pain in the ass to turn all that soil over and keep those chickens and clean the chickens.

00:44:37.257 --> 00:44:39.478
I've got a Finlish, a Finnish exchange student.

00:44:39.487 --> 00:44:40.797
Now the chickens are his job.

00:44:40.797 --> 00:44:44.487
Well, I heard you say you have somebody with you for a year, for a year.

00:44:44.487 --> 00:44:44.648
Yeah.

00:44:44.648 --> 00:44:45.557
He moved in a month ago.

00:44:45.557 --> 00:44:49.867
Well, he moved about 10 months total, but through the school year, you shared that at the Rotary.

00:44:49.898 --> 00:44:51.128
And, uh, when my.

00:44:51.672 --> 00:45:04.217
Um, when me and Jill were Zooming with his folks before he arrived, uh, his mom said, Well, we've been thinking about getting chickens for our summer cottage, and so we want to make sure Lenny knows how to, you know, Handle chickens when he gets back.

00:45:04.737 --> 00:45:06.577
And I was like, sweet, I can do that.

00:45:06.858 --> 00:45:08.527
And he's totally scared of them.

00:45:09.858 --> 00:45:12.268
The broody ones, you know, where they, Are you familiar?

00:45:12.268 --> 00:45:13.947
Where they sit on the eggs and they don't want to leave.

00:45:13.947 --> 00:45:16.117
I was like, dude, just let them peck you.

00:45:16.157 --> 00:45:17.878
They can't even break your skin.

00:45:17.927 --> 00:45:18.688
They won't hurt you.

00:45:18.717 --> 00:45:19.797
And he's like, I can't, I can't.

00:45:20.007 --> 00:45:21.637
I'm just going to use the stick and like chase around.

00:45:21.637 --> 00:45:22.387
I know, I know.

00:45:22.628 --> 00:45:24.878
It still freaks me out reaching in there when they're broody, man.

00:45:24.887 --> 00:45:25.657
He's a city kid.

00:45:26.137 --> 00:45:26.967
They're little, they're little bitches.

00:45:27.788 --> 00:45:30.717
They are little bitches, especially some of them like Buff Orpington.

00:45:30.728 --> 00:45:31.557
Some are more ornery.

00:45:31.597 --> 00:45:33.318
Yes, that's uh, exactly.

00:45:33.327 --> 00:45:35.164
A little hotter, run a little hotter.

00:45:35.164 --> 00:45:36.447
A little protective.

00:45:36.668 --> 00:45:36.938
Yeah.

00:45:36.978 --> 00:45:37.918
Yeah, that's true.

00:45:38.228 --> 00:45:43.018
Um, so, uh, So you went to the vote tech for the vote tech for two years there.

00:45:43.018 --> 00:45:45.818
And then I went to NJC North Northeastern junior college.

00:45:45.818 --> 00:45:49.197
I saved up a couple of grand and I went out there to take diesel mechanics.

00:45:49.197 --> 00:45:50.697
Thought I wanted to become a diesel mechanic.

00:45:51.108 --> 00:45:52.788
I was kind of a wrench with some friends of mine.

00:45:52.788 --> 00:45:56.507
They, they would run stock cars, cars out of Neary, you know, Colorado national speedway.

00:45:56.507 --> 00:45:59.297
That was our, that was kind of our weekend church experience.

00:45:59.518 --> 00:45:59.757
Right.

00:46:00.068 --> 00:46:02.938
Get the car ready and, and, and go out there and race the next day.

00:46:02.938 --> 00:46:04.018
And I was, I didn't race.

00:46:04.018 --> 00:46:05.637
I was just one of the pit crew.

00:46:05.637 --> 00:46:05.978
Right.

00:46:06.827 --> 00:46:07.447
We did that.

00:46:07.447 --> 00:46:07.947
Num.

00:46:08.148 --> 00:46:13.148
So I did about, I did a year there, came back and then I just, uh, started working.

00:46:13.168 --> 00:46:15.208
And then this hit me again.

00:46:15.268 --> 00:46:16.958
I just started, what did I start doing?

00:46:17.038 --> 00:46:20.637
Gosh, after I left, I was working at Kodak, Kodak for a couple of years.

00:46:20.717 --> 00:46:25.438
And, um, I actually had a job interview at HP and I was down in that basement at, in Loveland.

00:46:25.438 --> 00:46:27.257
And I was like, I just don't think I can work.

00:46:27.257 --> 00:46:32.068
And it's, I can't sit in a desk or a production counter place.

00:46:32.478 --> 00:46:33.367
That's not me.

00:46:33.387 --> 00:46:33.938
You know what I mean?

00:46:33.938 --> 00:46:37.827
I was in school for engineering and then I got some kind of a work shadow thing.

00:46:37.827 --> 00:46:42.237
And I realized like most engineers, they just put you in a little box, mostly.

00:46:42.277 --> 00:46:43.788
And I was like, nah, not you.

00:46:44.007 --> 00:46:46.967
Well, in calculus was really hard for me too, but it didn't flow.

00:46:47.027 --> 00:46:49.838
Didn't, didn't, I couldn't do it without doing the homework at least.

00:46:49.887 --> 00:46:50.347
Right.

00:46:50.458 --> 00:46:51.427
I needed to do that.

00:46:51.427 --> 00:46:53.297
That doesn't, Benny, on the other hand.

00:46:53.297 --> 00:47:02.248
He understands he could have been college would have been just a whiz for him and his mother and I both we don't we don't Flow that way.

00:47:02.248 --> 00:47:03.088
We're not wired that way.

00:47:03.097 --> 00:47:11.148
Yeah, we have other experience passions and and Professionalism but did that so you started to say the school bug bit you again?

00:47:11.288 --> 00:47:16.478
So then I bit me and I and I had to I went to Ames for a little while Was Mrs.

00:47:16.688 --> 00:47:17.527
Benny around yet?

00:47:17.577 --> 00:47:19.458
Yeah, Sandy came along.

00:47:19.458 --> 00:47:20.257
She was around.

00:47:20.268 --> 00:47:22.938
Yep, she had graduated from CSU in 1980.

00:47:23.458 --> 00:47:26.577
And, um, with a Bachelor in Psych, Psychology.

00:47:26.577 --> 00:47:28.677
And I said, don't you start using me.

00:47:28.677 --> 00:47:31.538
Don't, don't ask me to lay down on that couch and start using that on me.

00:47:31.628 --> 00:47:33.077
You know, just giving her a hard time, right?

00:47:33.378 --> 00:47:36.447
She goes, oh, you know, I'm not going to do that, you know.

00:47:36.757 --> 00:47:37.918
But it has come in handy.

00:47:37.918 --> 00:47:39.793
I'm sure.

00:47:40.023 --> 00:47:46.313
One of the, one of the most useful skills for a woman is to understand men and how to manipulate them to do what they want.

00:47:46.333 --> 00:47:47.552
Yeah, it's there.

00:47:47.952 --> 00:47:48.652
And they're smart.

00:47:48.652 --> 00:47:49.956
And if they're a good woman, that's perfect.

00:47:49.956 --> 00:47:53.271
Because they're better at instructing us around usually than we are instructing ourselves around.

00:47:53.271 --> 00:47:53.983
Oh my gosh.

00:47:53.983 --> 00:47:58.032
Married to her 43 years, thank God for her.

00:47:58.032 --> 00:48:01.543
She's been, she's been, she's been so supportive of this political world.

00:48:01.833 --> 00:48:02.972
Because we're not politic.

00:48:03.063 --> 00:48:03.472
We're not politic.

00:48:04.422 --> 00:48:08.963
We don't, we don't consider ourselves that, but you're in the, we're political junkies yet.

00:48:08.963 --> 00:48:12.172
You know, I mean, we're, we're into the people, that's the funnest part.

00:48:12.172 --> 00:48:13.663
It's just meeting all these people.

00:48:13.802 --> 00:48:21.862
You would like this job of mine too, this podcast job, uh, having two hour conversations with really interesting people all the time learning their life.

00:48:21.882 --> 00:48:22.202
Yeah.

00:48:22.202 --> 00:48:23.003
It's really interesting.

00:48:23.023 --> 00:48:23.333
Yeah.

00:48:23.543 --> 00:48:24.693
Um, I can see that.

00:48:25.103 --> 00:48:32.728
So, uh, Where did you come across Sandy, by the way, she, I met her at a church, uh, gathering that we were going to in Loveland at the time.

00:48:32.887 --> 00:48:34.657
That's where we first met actually.

00:48:34.797 --> 00:48:37.077
And, uh, just started to fall in love with her.

00:48:37.077 --> 00:48:39.918
She, her and I were done with the gate dating game scene.

00:48:39.918 --> 00:48:44.688
And we were like, kind of without any kind of relationships for about six months or a year.

00:48:44.688 --> 00:48:45.838
It was just nice.

00:48:46.038 --> 00:48:46.228
Yeah.

00:48:46.257 --> 00:48:52.867
So we just got, you know, focused in life and we just waiting for the right person and done with the mind games and all that, to be honest with you.

00:48:52.867 --> 00:48:53.088
Sure.

00:48:53.347 --> 00:48:59.188
And, uh, this is the one, you know, this is really the one because it's just, it's just been that way in our communication has been so good.

00:48:59.188 --> 00:49:02.807
And so, um, then I went from, uh, what was my next goal?

00:49:02.807 --> 00:49:07.677
Then I went to Ames and then I went back, then I went to CSU, not back to CSU, but to CSU for the first time.

00:49:07.788 --> 00:49:10.958
And I was there for about a year in married housing with Sandy.

00:49:10.958 --> 00:49:14.217
We were married and we had our first Benny was actually born.

00:49:14.657 --> 00:49:17.677
at Poudre, I think, while we were going to married housing.

00:49:18.108 --> 00:49:21.108
And, uh, then I hit the, the work bug just hit me.

00:49:21.387 --> 00:49:21.858
I said, you know what?

00:49:21.978 --> 00:49:23.527
What were you going back to school for at CSU?

00:49:23.527 --> 00:49:30.708
I was taking, believe it or not, radio, like going into, uh, communications, broadcasting, voice.

00:49:30.708 --> 00:49:32.577
I had the voice because you got a nice voice.

00:49:32.577 --> 00:49:33.987
You sing, you play guitar.

00:49:34.498 --> 00:49:35.277
You should do that.

00:49:35.277 --> 00:49:37.427
You know, I was like, and human development, actually.

00:49:37.438 --> 00:49:39.583
Were you in like bands and things or the worship group?

00:49:39.583 --> 00:49:40.952
Yeah.

00:49:40.952 --> 00:49:46.552
I don't know if you know Dave Beagle and he'll listen to this, but Dave and I played together as kids.

00:49:46.552 --> 00:49:53.693
We had a childhood neighborhood, uh, band, which is just a trip because he went off dude, like skyrocketed.

00:49:53.693 --> 00:49:53.963
Right.

00:49:53.963 --> 00:49:58.273
I mean, I just kind of put the ax down, the guitar down and I just didn't play much, right.

00:49:58.282 --> 00:50:03.913
For years until I went to church and then I started picking it up again, but I have no, I'm nowhere near the.

00:50:03.967 --> 00:50:07.708
The degree that he's at, the level he's at, right?

00:50:07.807 --> 00:50:10.507
He's got thousands and thousands of hours of playing.

00:50:10.518 --> 00:50:14.878
Thank God he's doing well after his accident after the mountain coming down, falling off that mountain.

00:50:14.878 --> 00:50:17.657
So, but, uh, so yeah, that's what happened.

00:50:17.657 --> 00:50:20.177
And you know, this just found this groove.

00:50:20.217 --> 00:50:24.677
I couldn't, like I said, I couldn't watch this stuff be disposed of and thrown away.

00:50:24.677 --> 00:50:31.108
So we've diverted at least over well over 4 million tons of new and usable building materials from the landfill.

00:50:31.177 --> 00:50:32.358
So through this business.

00:50:32.648 --> 00:50:44.827
So you kind of left CSU to get, start working, you work for this kind of building materials company, corporate kind of enterprise start seeing my launch that kind of takes us back around to where we started back.

00:50:44.827 --> 00:50:45.157
Sorry.

00:50:45.157 --> 00:50:46.507
It's just kind of, no, that's okay.

00:50:46.557 --> 00:50:47.157
A good segway.

00:50:47.157 --> 00:50:48.447
You were there, you were there.

00:50:48.927 --> 00:51:10.992
Um, what, uh, what else, what was some of the, the, the big, Major people that bumped you in one direction or you mentioned your dad already and some influence there and whatnot but along that say junior high high school changing colleges finding direction where there's some either mentors or Just influential teachers things like that.

00:51:10.992 --> 00:51:12.333
Did you'd like to shout out while we're here?

00:51:12.583 --> 00:51:20.157
I think I met one of them I did meet one of the astronauts, um, Erwin and, uh, got to shake his hand and he was impressive to me.

00:51:20.157 --> 00:51:24.097
I mean, I think, I'm not sure he may have been an Eagle as well.

00:51:24.128 --> 00:51:29.467
I looked into who became Eagle, who were Eagle scouts, how many presidents, and in fact, only one Gerald Ford.

00:51:29.998 --> 00:51:35.097
But when it came to astronauts, there was quite a few astronauts that became Eagle scouts.

00:51:35.097 --> 00:51:36.668
And so he impressed me.

00:51:36.688 --> 00:51:37.878
I kind of followed him a little bit.

00:51:37.878 --> 00:51:51.077
And the scouts in general and 4 H seems like major elements of your Outdoors, hiking, you know, conservation of, of, uh, you know, the forests and, and land and water and fishing and appreciation.

00:51:51.088 --> 00:51:54.038
You go there, you, you, you, you want to leave it cleaner and you found it.

00:51:54.077 --> 00:51:54.268
Yeah.

00:51:54.527 --> 00:51:56.097
Somebody drops a wrapper, you pick it up.

00:51:56.097 --> 00:52:00.858
I mean, if somebody left some cans, you pick them up, take them out with you if they're, you know, that's what they decided to do.

00:52:00.958 --> 00:52:03.628
How, uh, how old were you when you started Uncle Benny's?

00:52:04.842 --> 00:52:06.472
I was, that's a good question.

00:52:06.472 --> 00:52:10.182
We're 29 years old might take 30 off of 66 right now.

00:52:10.472 --> 00:52:13.552
So 35.

00:52:13.603 --> 00:52:14.742
And what was your situation?

00:52:14.753 --> 00:52:16.672
Did you have more kids as well?

00:52:16.682 --> 00:52:18.452
Did you have a huge savings?

00:52:18.652 --> 00:52:19.452
Did you get a bank loan?

00:52:19.592 --> 00:52:20.552
It was a side hustle.

00:52:20.563 --> 00:52:22.382
You kept your day job for how long?

00:52:22.742 --> 00:52:26.483
Um, let's see, did I just jump right in?

00:52:26.483 --> 00:52:31.722
I mean, I left somewhere and it was interesting because I, I leased this little corner.

00:52:31.733 --> 00:52:32.293
It was funny.

00:52:32.293 --> 00:52:36.313
My friend Juan Maris had this corner for 45 bucks a month is all he was paying.

00:52:36.313 --> 00:52:39.112
This old plumbers that owned this corner down in Loveland.

00:52:39.713 --> 00:52:42.072
And he goes, Ben, yeah, if you want this corner, let's do it.

00:52:42.072 --> 00:52:42.413
You know?

00:52:42.492 --> 00:52:43.733
And so I tagged it.

00:52:44.342 --> 00:52:47.572
My tag was Uncle Benny from NJC.

00:52:47.572 --> 00:52:48.492
It's where I got the tag.

00:52:48.572 --> 00:52:49.092
Okay.

00:52:49.307 --> 00:52:53.757
Uh, a friend of mine was a Southern guy and he was, uh, I ain't real slow talking.

00:52:53.788 --> 00:52:54.478
I just love this guy.

00:52:54.518 --> 00:52:55.447
Donnie is his name.

00:52:55.898 --> 00:52:58.007
And he said, Hey, uncle Benny, how you doing?

00:52:58.007 --> 00:53:01.248
And it just started, it was just uncle Benny and it just flowed.

00:53:01.248 --> 00:53:03.577
And people just started calling me that for a year.

00:53:03.577 --> 00:53:04.418
And I thought, you know what?

00:53:04.777 --> 00:53:07.527
I think I'm just going to call this uncle Benny's building supplies.

00:53:07.527 --> 00:53:07.788
Right.

00:53:07.918 --> 00:53:10.547
And it flowed, people dug it and they still dig it today.

00:53:10.557 --> 00:53:10.847
So, right.

00:53:10.847 --> 00:53:12.177
Well, you can trust uncle Benny.

00:53:12.277 --> 00:53:13.418
Yeah, it's weird.

00:53:13.418 --> 00:53:14.987
I just dispatched to uncle Benny.

00:53:14.987 --> 00:53:15.862
Now I feel it's funny.

00:53:16.003 --> 00:53:19.713
It's weird to say, my name's Ben Austin, cause they look at me and then they say, I don't know.

00:53:19.713 --> 00:53:22.742
Uncle Betty's your uncle, Benny, I got about doors from you, man.

00:53:22.742 --> 00:53:23.472
When are you going to reopen?

00:53:23.472 --> 00:53:24.492
I mean, this is honest to God.

00:53:24.492 --> 00:53:26.862
I hear it every day and all these events I go to, right.

00:53:26.862 --> 00:53:28.452
I'm hitting Foco hard right now.

00:53:28.742 --> 00:53:30.813
I just did CSU all day for the Aggies.

00:53:30.813 --> 00:53:37.643
Cause I am a tech, an alumni, my wife and I, my brother in law, sister in law, we're all alumni is walking around.

00:53:38.148 --> 00:53:40.297
Seeing people saying hello, did the game.

00:53:40.297 --> 00:53:42.927
We were there for eight or nine hours, just eating it up.

00:53:42.927 --> 00:53:43.248
Right.

00:53:43.248 --> 00:53:44.757
It's fun.

00:53:44.757 --> 00:53:50.818
When you, the people make it fun and give you the wing, the wind under your wings, because you know, people go, how do you do all this?

00:53:50.827 --> 00:53:52.288
It go all these places and work.

00:53:52.288 --> 00:53:54.327
I go, the people are my fuel.

00:53:54.487 --> 00:53:54.847
Yeah.

00:53:54.918 --> 00:53:55.197
Yeah.

00:53:55.777 --> 00:53:56.697
You know, that helps a lot.

00:53:56.697 --> 00:53:57.847
I don't know what else to say.

00:53:57.847 --> 00:53:58.148
That's it.

00:53:58.288 --> 00:53:58.588
You know.

00:53:58.597 --> 00:53:59.668
I would say that's true of me as well.

00:54:00.068 --> 00:54:06.038
Um, I'm going to call a short break and, uh, we'll come back and, uh, do some of our closing segments.

00:54:06.088 --> 00:54:06.438
All right.

00:54:06.438 --> 00:54:06.728
Cool.

00:54:50.106 --> 00:54:59.695
uh, we were just talking about kind of the, the notion of priority and common sense and so in our, in our local process, I was just getting ready to explain, but I thought I might as well record.

00:55:00.666 --> 00:55:09.666
We, we ask a question, step two is clarifying questions only from the other 10 people in the room, uh, 15, 20 minutes of that.

00:55:10.076 --> 00:55:12.385
And then the third step is suggested solutions.

00:55:13.056 --> 00:55:18.025
So now these 10 people are going to say, Hey, I think you should do this and you make it 10 or 15.

00:55:18.186 --> 00:55:18.755
There's the thing.

00:55:18.766 --> 00:55:19.565
Suggestions.

00:55:19.565 --> 00:55:20.766
Yeah, this is the think tank.

00:55:20.916 --> 00:55:24.835
And then step four is, is kind of what's relevant here is okay.

00:55:24.835 --> 00:55:28.815
You just heard 15 things to do, but we don't want you to leave with 15 things to do.

00:55:28.815 --> 00:55:30.106
Cause you might not do any of them.

00:55:30.465 --> 00:55:33.356
What are the two or three things you want to be held accountable to do?

00:55:34.146 --> 00:55:35.856
And don't come back next month without doing it.

00:55:35.916 --> 00:55:37.146
That's not overwhelming.

00:55:37.266 --> 00:55:37.585
Yeah.

00:55:37.885 --> 00:55:38.295
I like that.

00:55:38.346 --> 00:55:38.945
Exactly.

00:55:38.945 --> 00:55:45.365
And then you have priorities and, you know, a very few number of priorities, not 31 priorities, City of Fort Collins Council.

00:55:45.365 --> 00:55:46.096
It's more doable.

00:55:46.465 --> 00:55:46.916
Right.

00:55:47.326 --> 00:55:47.425
Containable.

00:55:47.565 --> 00:55:50.565
I wonder how many of our 30, of their 31 priorities are not.

00:55:50.925 --> 00:55:56.856
Uh, have been accomplished, uh, from that initial, uh, city council when they, uh, yeah.

00:55:57.126 --> 00:56:01.005
There's a forum coming up with Spoka in this, uh, Fort Collins City Council.

00:56:01.085 --> 00:56:01.536
Oh, is that right?

00:56:01.536 --> 00:56:05.065
For all of us, all candidates, on, in all parties.

00:56:05.195 --> 00:56:05.425
Yeah.

00:56:05.476 --> 00:56:06.246
Coming up shortly.

00:56:06.675 --> 00:56:13.246
Um, so after we come back from the break, our tradition is to talk about, uh, Each of faith, family, and politics.

00:56:13.635 --> 00:56:17.005
Uh, but I do dealer's choice on where you want to start with that.

00:56:17.016 --> 00:56:19.925
We've touched on politics, but we'll go broader.

00:56:20.445 --> 00:56:25.806
Maybe more about broad politics than your race, I would say, in some cases.

00:56:25.806 --> 00:56:26.766
But, uh, where do you want to start?

00:56:26.775 --> 00:56:27.865
You want to talk about Sandy?

00:56:28.525 --> 00:56:29.226
Talk about your kids?

00:56:29.226 --> 00:56:30.576
You want to talk about politics right away?

00:56:30.615 --> 00:56:31.376
Get that out of the way?

00:56:31.436 --> 00:56:32.496
Well, faith is huge.

00:56:32.565 --> 00:56:33.775
That is kind of the order I've come in.

00:56:33.985 --> 00:56:38.856
I live by, you know, God, family, uh, business, and politics, I mean, in that order, right?

00:56:38.856 --> 00:56:44.186
I mean, um, I've been a Christian for many years, and uh, I don't push Grew up that way, too?

00:56:44.195 --> 00:56:45.016
I grew up that way.

00:56:45.016 --> 00:56:45.815
Your dad wasn't a Christian?

00:56:45.826 --> 00:56:46.516
Yeah, pretty much.

00:56:46.516 --> 00:56:49.675
I mean, I remember confirmation and stuff in Lutheran.

00:56:49.675 --> 00:56:50.775
What kind ofare the Swiss Lutherans?

00:56:50.775 --> 00:56:51.126
Yeah.

00:56:51.126 --> 00:56:52.175
Yeah, they are kind of Lutheran.

00:56:52.206 --> 00:56:53.516
Uh, they lean that direction.

00:56:53.516 --> 00:56:54.715
Then we went into some Methodist.

00:56:54.951 --> 00:56:58.621
visitation and, and, uh, gotten into some different churches.

00:56:58.701 --> 00:57:06.251
You might call mine more of a spirit filled interdenominational meaning instead of non denominational it's inter meaning we, we welcome everyone.

00:57:06.251 --> 00:57:09.891
Just, just come in and meet Jesus or love Jesus with us or whatever.

00:57:09.891 --> 00:57:11.331
It's pretty interesting, pretty open.

00:57:11.331 --> 00:57:13.320
I don't look at, I'm not religious.

00:57:13.320 --> 00:57:14.054
I don't really.

00:57:14.235 --> 00:57:15.786
That's why I use that word of faith.

00:57:15.826 --> 00:57:18.016
I'm anti religious, actually.

00:57:18.206 --> 00:57:19.976
I do not want religion as bondage.

00:57:19.985 --> 00:57:22.416
If you want me to dance the way you want me to dance, yeah.

00:57:22.416 --> 00:57:23.096
It's not freedom.

00:57:23.096 --> 00:57:31.585
I mean, go to Africa and then try to dance with the I mean, dancing with the African people when I went to churches there, all those mission trips, man, was just so freedom.

00:57:31.585 --> 00:57:32.326
So freedom.

00:57:32.831 --> 00:57:35.231
I even, I had the pleasure of dancing with Watusi's.

00:57:35.460 --> 00:57:35.990
Oh, cool.

00:57:36.070 --> 00:57:38.021
And that was an experience that not many have.

00:57:38.030 --> 00:57:45.181
I mean, you, when you do that, they get right in your face and you have to jump and look in their eyes and you try to jump higher than they do.

00:57:45.271 --> 00:57:46.771
Oh, well, good thing you're so tall.

00:57:46.840 --> 00:57:47.420
And it worked.

00:57:47.420 --> 00:57:48.331
It helped a lot.

00:57:48.331 --> 00:57:50.911
I didn't have the right shoes, but I stayed up with this dude.

00:57:50.911 --> 00:57:53.340
And what they do is they come in and they try to intimidate you.

00:57:53.391 --> 00:57:53.771
Interesting.

00:57:56.871 --> 00:57:59.661
And they're making this guttural noise while they're doing this.

00:57:59.731 --> 00:58:04.335
They're And they're getting, it's, it's a total, it was, uh, it's a rush and a half.

00:58:04.456 --> 00:58:06.126
It was a rush and a half.

00:58:06.155 --> 00:58:10.186
And I even bought a, I even bought a horn, like what we call a shofar here.

00:58:10.186 --> 00:58:13.235
The, uh, Israelis and the Jewish people use shofars.

00:58:13.235 --> 00:58:13.766
They blow these horns.

00:58:14.315 --> 00:58:29.050
These are the same horns from the kudu, from the mighty kudu, they call it, but they cut it, they cut a mouthpiece on the side of the, of the side of the horn down on the, far neck down in with their machete and I could not master how to blow that freaking horn.

00:58:29.420 --> 00:58:29.971
I have it.

00:58:30.001 --> 00:58:34.251
It's a wall hanger now, but I got a regular, yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:58:34.251 --> 00:58:35.460
But I couldn't make it work.

00:58:35.460 --> 00:58:40.811
I mean, I just, my, my son's good with the didgeridoo and, uh, and I can't do that one either.

00:58:41.181 --> 00:58:43.541
It's so freaking awesome.

00:58:43.550 --> 00:58:44.371
It's so bizarre.

00:58:44.601 --> 00:58:48.666
It's a, it's a very, it goes right to the core of my spine.

00:58:48.666 --> 00:58:51.451
Yeah, that started to get to me.

00:58:51.681 --> 00:58:54.931
So, uh, so you, so you kind of grew up that way.

00:58:54.960 --> 00:58:58.851
Did you have a, did you have a faith, uh, question point in your life?

00:58:59.740 --> 00:59:05.090
Yeah, I was, I, I, I, I went into dabbled in the drug world a little bit as a kid.

00:59:05.661 --> 00:59:06.891
Oh, I forgot to even offer you that.

00:59:06.971 --> 00:59:18.440
And uh, and uh, but we, we did the, uh, I had a buddy that his, his brothers were all bolder.

00:59:18.471 --> 00:59:22.021
They were all just into psychedelics and they were coming out of Woodstock.

00:59:22.021 --> 00:59:23.880
And so we had some of that influence there, right?

00:59:23.891 --> 00:59:24.340
Okay.

00:59:24.661 --> 00:59:26.280
And we were the kids, we were the young kids.

00:59:26.280 --> 00:59:27.041
He was a young brother.

00:59:27.061 --> 00:59:28.170
So you were the test subjects.

00:59:28.170 --> 00:59:30.021
So we were, we, we tested some things.

00:59:30.360 --> 00:59:31.820
Let's see how strong these mushrooms are.

00:59:31.820 --> 00:59:32.690
And it never worked.

00:59:32.731 --> 00:59:36.990
Mushrooms, none of that stuff got me what I was looking for.

00:59:37.166 --> 00:59:37.626
You know what I mean?

00:59:37.675 --> 00:59:38.865
Or what you anticipated at least.

00:59:39.896 --> 00:59:50.945
And so, uh, I, I did, I did accept crisis of my savior back when I was like 18 or something very young on early on, went to college and, you know, kind of drifted a little bit, but then came back, met my wife.

00:59:50.945 --> 00:59:58.126
She said, if I'd have known you, I'd have run as if I'd have known you back when you were who you were out of run as far away as you could have.

00:59:58.126 --> 01:00:04.036
I wasn't like that bad, but I was not who I was by the time she met me.

01:00:04.346 --> 01:00:05.806
So that's what happened.

01:00:05.846 --> 01:00:08.186
And, um, well, you're kind of, it seems like you were kind of.

01:00:08.661 --> 01:00:09.860
Old for a young guy.

01:00:10.280 --> 01:00:11.210
Probably first born.

01:00:12.440 --> 01:00:21.050
You know, that's in, in a father that was pretty strict, you know, European, seriously, uh, the Swiss, the Swiss influence man was, was pretty heavy, right?

01:00:21.291 --> 01:00:22.880
I mean, yeah.

01:00:23.010 --> 01:00:24.030
Are there trains all on time?

01:00:24.030 --> 01:00:25.300
Yeah.

01:00:25.300 --> 01:00:26.981
All that stuff.

01:00:26.981 --> 01:00:27.231
Oh yeah.

01:00:27.391 --> 01:00:28.331
There was some of that actually.

01:00:28.331 --> 01:00:28.481
Yeah.

01:00:28.510 --> 01:00:28.721
Yeah.

01:00:28.721 --> 01:00:32.541
It wasn't abuse, but you know, it was there and it was needed.

01:00:32.590 --> 01:00:33.800
I always had the threat of spanking.

01:00:33.811 --> 01:00:35.391
I don't really remember being spanked.

01:00:35.400 --> 01:00:35.940
You may not.

01:00:36.201 --> 01:00:37.561
There was a significant threat of it.

01:00:37.561 --> 01:00:38.001
I was scared of it.

01:00:38.405 --> 01:00:38.726
Yeah.

01:00:38.766 --> 01:00:44.596
Mine happened to be a belt, you know, we knew which belt it was because each one was a Western belt with a different pattern.

01:00:44.596 --> 01:00:46.635
It was either moms or dads, you know what I mean?

01:00:46.646 --> 01:00:47.596
Moms was a little lighter.

01:00:47.596 --> 01:00:52.775
Yeah, but it was, you know, wasn't the bare bottom stuff, but I mean, it made an impression and didn't take very much.

01:00:53.195 --> 01:00:54.326
It never really did.

01:00:54.335 --> 01:01:15.835
Well, I mean, it's interesting that the, I mean, not to get political in that space, I guess necessarily, but Like, if you watch dogs raise, you know, grown up dogs raise puppies and things like that, like, there's, there's some violence, or at least threat of violence, involved, and I think, you know, will create Soft humans, if they never get nipped, right?

01:01:15.846 --> 01:01:17.786
There's like some protocol action going on there.

01:01:17.786 --> 01:01:23.036
I think, and I'm not advocating staying out there, but I do think by and large, get away with way too much.

01:01:23.525 --> 01:01:25.346
Oh, we're going to take your cell phone away for a day.

01:01:25.556 --> 01:01:35.585
Well, there's positive and negative for reinforcement and, you know, Spock even kind of questioned himself after, you know, his book came out and, you know, there were writings about that.

01:01:36.076 --> 01:01:38.985
And he was like, I don't know if I really was on to this.

01:01:39.585 --> 01:01:40.556
He changed it up a little bit.

01:01:40.556 --> 01:01:41.376
Let's just say it that way.

01:01:41.376 --> 01:01:41.675
Right.

01:01:41.876 --> 01:01:42.275
Fair.

01:01:42.376 --> 01:01:51.775
So, um, so, uh, on the faith side, uh, Anything like you'd like to elaborate on, uh, what church do you go to?

01:01:51.775 --> 01:01:54.746
If you go to a church, that's called message of life ministries.

01:01:54.746 --> 01:01:58.155
I'm a trustee down there and I've been in that church for over 40 years.

01:01:58.905 --> 01:02:00.826
I had a pastor that we, I did lose.

01:02:00.826 --> 01:02:04.365
He was a friend of mine, not only just my pastor, but also a dear friend.

01:02:04.365 --> 01:02:07.045
And so we lost him to a heart attack about six years back.

01:02:07.775 --> 01:02:09.766
So he was a heavy influence on my life.

01:02:09.766 --> 01:02:11.065
I had a couple other ones too.

01:02:11.085 --> 01:02:16.536
Steve Anselmo was a pastor of Rez and just older gentlemen, my dad and a couple other guys, you know, I've lost.

01:02:16.655 --> 01:02:22.516
A lot of my mentors, actually, because they were in their eighties, I'm rebuilding that.

01:02:22.545 --> 01:02:26.775
I'm actually, that's a safety net for me actually to, to have accountability.

01:02:26.786 --> 01:02:35.835
Accountability only works as, as far as you're willing to ask someone to you, you ask them to ask you questions and you give them the line.

01:02:36.326 --> 01:02:37.885
This is what I want you to ask me.

01:02:38.005 --> 01:02:38.596
You know what I mean?

01:02:38.635 --> 01:02:39.045
Yes.

01:02:39.146 --> 01:02:39.496
Okay.

01:02:39.545 --> 01:02:41.826
So that, but it has to be agreed upon, right?

01:02:42.126 --> 01:02:42.235
Yeah.

01:02:42.235 --> 01:02:46.456
Like on two, two way street, like, you know, what do you, what do you want of me?

01:02:46.456 --> 01:02:49.346
There's a pastor in Wellington that I've asked this question before.

01:02:49.346 --> 01:02:52.356
And so it's like, well, how far are we going with this?

01:02:53.215 --> 01:03:01.266
Because there's five levels of relationship in general, you know, you can be acquaintances and he's my friend and then there's covenant is you and your wife, you know?

01:03:01.266 --> 01:03:02.186
And so that's heavy.

01:03:02.440 --> 01:03:03.960
That takes a long time to get there.

01:03:04.141 --> 01:03:05.931
That's level five, totally level five.

01:03:05.931 --> 01:03:15.101
And so, um, between that and one is like, dad used to say, it's, you'd say you, you're always, you always sounded like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Schwarzenegger.

01:03:15.101 --> 01:03:16.050
I loved his accent.

01:03:16.061 --> 01:03:18.240
He'd say, you're always talking about all these friends.

01:03:18.240 --> 01:03:19.081
Who are these friends?

01:03:19.530 --> 01:03:21.530
Are they the ones that come to you at two in the morning?

01:03:21.530 --> 01:03:23.490
If you call and you say, come get me out of jail.

01:03:24.280 --> 01:03:24.891
And I go.

01:03:25.710 --> 01:03:26.621
No, I guess you're right.

01:03:26.661 --> 01:03:27.001
I couldn't.

01:03:27.041 --> 01:03:27.800
I got one.

01:03:27.800 --> 01:03:28.271
I can do that.

01:03:28.771 --> 01:03:29.061
Yeah.

01:03:29.090 --> 01:03:30.760
You know, that was early on when I was 18.

01:03:30.771 --> 01:03:32.331
Well, I quit calling everybody my friends.

01:03:32.420 --> 01:03:32.641
Yeah.

01:03:32.641 --> 01:03:32.971
Yeah.

01:03:33.041 --> 01:03:34.690
Because I mean, that's a pretty flippant word.

01:03:34.751 --> 01:03:35.110
Yeah.

01:03:35.121 --> 01:03:37.291
It's used without really thinking it through.

01:03:37.311 --> 01:03:40.081
We like each other quite a bit, but I wouldn't call you a friend.

01:03:40.300 --> 01:03:40.911
We're not there yet.

01:03:40.920 --> 01:03:41.971
You know, we're acquaintances.

01:03:41.981 --> 01:03:42.931
We're above acquaintance.

01:03:42.931 --> 01:03:44.030
I think even we're 1.

01:03:44.070 --> 01:03:44.641
5.

01:03:44.641 --> 01:03:45.101
We're gaining.

01:03:45.481 --> 01:03:46.240
We're gaining today.

01:03:46.726 --> 01:03:47.175
Why?

01:03:47.235 --> 01:03:51.826
Because we're having time to learn about each other's lives.

01:03:52.175 --> 01:03:59.916
That just takes, like we used to be singles pastors actually, Sandy and I would minister to singles that had been divorced.

01:04:00.155 --> 01:04:06.536
Some of them one, two, three times, you know, and we'd always counsel the people and this was on a lay basis, right?

01:04:06.766 --> 01:04:07.365
Just sure.

01:04:07.396 --> 01:04:08.396
We'd not charge.

01:04:08.396 --> 01:04:08.436
Just.

01:04:08.436 --> 01:04:08.695
Yeah.

01:04:08.735 --> 01:04:11.865
Volunteer stuff, people in our church, out of our church, whoever wanted help.

01:04:11.865 --> 01:04:14.976
And still to this day, we actually have a couple of couples that are having troubles now.

01:04:15.485 --> 01:04:18.275
So we do that because that's giving back.

01:04:19.246 --> 01:04:26.806
And we would say to people, you know, gosh, why don't you just take a year off, man, from anybody because there's four seasons.

01:04:26.996 --> 01:04:27.356
Right.

01:04:27.416 --> 01:04:28.675
And somebody is going to go Dr.

01:04:28.675 --> 01:04:29.346
Jekyll and Mr.

01:04:29.346 --> 01:04:30.106
Hyde sometimes.

01:04:30.525 --> 01:04:30.795
Yeah.

01:04:31.195 --> 01:04:37.215
Every winter man about, you know, Christmas, the week before Christmas, this, this guy just, I don't know who this guy is.

01:04:37.646 --> 01:04:39.695
He's totally changed whatever, you know?

01:04:39.695 --> 01:04:43.936
So we've heard enough of that to know that's a pattern of human nature.

01:04:43.985 --> 01:04:45.925
And so we would counsel people.

01:04:45.925 --> 01:04:50.356
And then if you got divorced the second time around, maybe you need a little more time, you just pray about it.

01:04:50.356 --> 01:04:51.096
It's your choice.

01:04:51.585 --> 01:04:55.621
We're just saying from what we hear, It'll work better the more time you take off to heal.

01:04:55.860 --> 01:05:02.911
It's interesting that the, the culture has gone in some ways from, uh, almost too much codependency.

01:05:03.021 --> 01:05:14.150
Like, like leaning on each other and, and people that can't really, like I've known so many people in my lifetime that, that if they broke up with their boyfriend or girlfriend, it was because they had another one lined up already.

01:05:14.150 --> 01:05:15.780
Or if they didn't, it was like a week.

01:05:17.001 --> 01:05:17.400
Right.

01:05:17.460 --> 01:05:22.621
And like, I was always, I was 26 when I started dating my wife.

01:05:22.621 --> 01:05:24.010
Now we've been married 21 years.

01:05:25.201 --> 01:05:30.340
Preceding that I dated some girls, one girl, almost six months, you know, a few girls, like three, four months.

01:05:30.760 --> 01:05:42.201
But as soon as I knew it wasn't the one, I was like, it's the best thing for us if we just move this along, you know, I would love to spend more time with you and stuff, but it's not fair to you and it's not fair to me.

01:05:42.210 --> 01:05:43.911
And But you communicated that.

01:05:43.920 --> 01:05:44.380
Is that right?

01:05:44.420 --> 01:05:44.581
Yeah.

01:05:44.581 --> 01:05:44.811
Yeah.

01:05:44.811 --> 01:05:45.420
Which is cool.

01:05:45.641 --> 01:05:46.070
Yeah.

01:05:46.101 --> 01:05:47.041
When that's not done.

01:05:47.101 --> 01:06:02.221
Um, and I think that's potentially cowardice and it's, it's hard, it's hard on that well and who the other person, yeah, no, and I, I mean, I got my heart broken and I broke a couple and you know, I'm really glad that I found the girl that I was supposed to be with and that cool.

01:06:02.221 --> 01:06:16.175
And we, we've had opportunities, Sandy and I both, we'd be out in the early parts of our marriage now, 43 years, as I said, but we'd see people and we're like, you know, saying I'd go Sandy that, I did not, I was not nice to that lady right over there.

01:06:16.806 --> 01:06:18.195
I need to go talk to her and make it right.

01:06:23.496 --> 01:06:24.226
She goes do it.

01:06:25.485 --> 01:06:26.186
And I do it.

01:06:27.226 --> 01:06:28.806
And you get released because you know what?

01:06:28.806 --> 01:06:30.025
You release that person too.

01:06:30.255 --> 01:06:30.675
Totally.

01:06:31.416 --> 01:06:32.036
That's freedom.

01:06:32.246 --> 01:06:32.695
Yeah.

01:06:33.195 --> 01:06:34.065
That takes guts.

01:06:34.085 --> 01:06:34.735
Keep those lists.

01:06:34.735 --> 01:06:35.286
Not comfy.

01:06:35.735 --> 01:06:39.436
Flesh doesn't dig it, but it's something that needs to be done if possible.

01:06:39.496 --> 01:06:43.726
A box of tissues underneath this, uh, underneath this table here for that kind of thing.

01:06:44.425 --> 01:06:46.275
Um, I appreciate you sharing that.

01:06:46.596 --> 01:06:50.481
Um, Did Sandy come from the same kind of a faith background?

01:06:50.590 --> 01:06:52.371
Yeah, yeah, she did.

01:06:52.371 --> 01:07:00.065
We, we both, you know, kind of were Dating people, as I shared earlier, and it just wasn't working in a lot of cases.

01:07:00.065 --> 01:07:02.545
And we finally got to the point where we said, we're done with that.

01:07:02.596 --> 01:07:08.916
You know, we need to just hang tight and wait for the right one because this, this, this brain damage is not worth it.

01:07:08.916 --> 01:07:09.755
It's a tough thing.

01:07:10.096 --> 01:07:10.976
It's a matter of the heart.

01:07:11.016 --> 01:07:16.096
Well, and hearts fall in love pretty fast, even with the wrong person, kind of like at least a little bit.

01:07:16.190 --> 01:07:16.541
Right.

01:07:16.541 --> 01:07:22.570
Like they go up to that three level and when everybody else is at a one or a two, you're like, Ooh, I got a three going here.

01:07:22.610 --> 01:07:23.101
Right.

01:07:23.190 --> 01:07:24.070
Maybe it's real.

01:07:24.141 --> 01:07:24.530
Right.

01:07:24.561 --> 01:07:29.481
And when, you know, people get together and they start, I just, I'm just going to say it, you know, start playing house and sure.

01:07:29.490 --> 01:07:32.161
It's before the, the, the commitment of covenant marriage and stuff.

01:07:32.161 --> 01:07:37.320
And we weren't perfect, Sandy and I, but we tried to stay out of that game plan, you know, the playing house deal.

01:07:37.320 --> 01:07:41.030
And, and, you know, because it just.

01:07:41.655 --> 01:07:47.945
It starts out, if it starts out in disrespect and dishonor, it never really goes away until it's dealt with.

01:07:47.945 --> 01:07:49.496
And that, that, that, that takes time.

01:07:49.496 --> 01:07:51.146
That takes a little repent of action.

01:07:51.155 --> 01:07:59.856
You know, it's, it's like, it's, I, we call it the dog chasing the tail continuum, you know, you dishonor, you didn't really love me because you, you went to bed with me.

01:08:00.795 --> 01:08:04.275
And then the other one says, yeah, you don't love that.

01:08:04.286 --> 01:08:05.356
You really don't love me.

01:08:05.356 --> 01:08:06.396
Cause you'd really love me.

01:08:06.931 --> 01:08:08.530
You would have respected me and hung tight.

01:08:08.740 --> 01:08:09.070
Yeah.

01:08:09.181 --> 01:08:14.891
Yeah, you know, so this I mean we hear those I feel yeah, bro We we've heard this a lot through the years mom.

01:08:15.101 --> 01:08:24.621
Jill and I were intimate You know, pretty early in our relationship before we were engaged, but then we did do, and I'm really glad we did, which it sucked.

01:08:25.060 --> 01:08:29.810
Uh, we did 60 days of no intimacy sound like me before we got married.

01:08:29.860 --> 01:08:31.900
That's what we kind of, to refresh, we got married.

01:08:31.921 --> 01:08:32.100
Yeah.

01:08:32.100 --> 01:08:32.240
Yeah.

01:08:32.270 --> 01:08:32.695
We like.

01:08:32.695 --> 01:08:41.405
Straightened out, you know, for us out, it was like a sacrifice for a, a bit of a sacrifice toward what we'd already done wrong.

01:08:41.405 --> 01:08:41.586
Right.

01:08:41.586 --> 01:08:46.655
But a recognition of totally the right way was this, and I can honor you by this restraint.

01:08:46.805 --> 01:08:48.336
Oh man, that's so important, brother.

01:08:48.336 --> 01:08:58.185
I mean, we, because we talked to people that have been married for older than us was just kind of bizarre counseling people that are older than us and married longer, but they're, they're, they're coming to us and go, we're just miserable.

01:08:58.190 --> 01:08:58.421
Right.

01:08:59.246 --> 01:09:01.416
And this is why, and we go, we'd just go, let's go back.

01:09:01.966 --> 01:09:02.706
Just repent, man.

01:09:02.706 --> 01:09:03.105
It's cool.

01:09:03.105 --> 01:09:03.466
It's easy.

01:09:03.466 --> 01:09:08.865
Just look her in the eyes or him and say, you know, for you, I've been a dumb ass, whatever it is.

01:09:09.320 --> 01:09:11.820
And all of a sudden they come out of it, there's some tears.

01:09:11.820 --> 01:09:14.900
It's a tough place to go because you don't, you fear what you don't understand.

01:09:14.921 --> 01:09:15.350
Totally.

01:09:15.421 --> 01:09:15.680
Right.

01:09:15.680 --> 01:09:16.610
I call it 2020.

01:09:16.621 --> 01:09:21.070
You want 20 more years of this misery, or can you deal with it in 20 minutes?

01:09:21.070 --> 01:09:23.671
Just, just give up 20 minutes and go there.

01:09:23.940 --> 01:09:24.850
It's going to be a little scary.

01:09:24.850 --> 01:09:28.020
I guarantee you, but to persevere and push through that.

01:09:28.480 --> 01:09:32.730
Uh, the end results like, well, you and I are both kind of confront the dragon kind of people.

01:09:32.780 --> 01:09:33.110
Yeah.

01:09:33.180 --> 01:09:33.390
Yeah.

01:09:33.400 --> 01:09:34.720
Uh, I don't need a plan.

01:09:35.161 --> 01:09:36.100
Just give me a sword.

01:09:36.940 --> 01:09:38.480
Well, I think that's, that's innate.

01:09:38.480 --> 01:09:47.220
And, and, and I think we're supposed to be that way to a certain point, you know, we're, you know, not really divide and conquer in a bad way, or I'm not a domineering husband at all.

01:09:47.220 --> 01:09:48.730
I'm so respectful of my wife.

01:09:48.730 --> 01:09:50.161
We're in agreement on everything we do.

01:09:50.671 --> 01:09:51.940
You know, we pray stuff through.

01:09:51.940 --> 01:09:56.845
It's like, you know, if we don't, If we're not in agreement, I'm buying this car truck or I don't even care.

01:09:57.185 --> 01:09:58.426
Maybe not something that big.

01:09:58.445 --> 01:10:08.876
Maybe it's just, I don't know if we want to go spend the money on this TV or whatever, hang tight, let's hang when we're ready, when we're cool, we're going to do it because we don't want to resent each other.

01:10:09.395 --> 01:10:11.815
It's pretty basic to me, to me anyway.

01:10:12.076 --> 01:10:17.055
Um, so we were shifting into family already from politics.

01:10:17.065 --> 01:10:20.826
Well, we shifted kind of from faith to, to, to family here.

01:10:20.865 --> 01:10:23.916
Um, how many kids, you got three kids?

01:10:23.975 --> 01:10:24.496
Is that right?

01:10:25.275 --> 01:10:26.345
And how many grandkids do you got?

01:10:26.345 --> 01:10:34.666
So we have two, we have two children, two children, three grandchildren, and our other daughter and her husband are working on more grants, Devon Haney children.

01:10:34.706 --> 01:10:35.015
All right.

01:10:35.015 --> 01:10:38.886
So my son, what's interesting, we wanted four to six kids.

01:10:38.916 --> 01:10:41.365
We were not really supposed to have even one.

01:10:42.225 --> 01:10:48.845
Uh, doctors here in Fort Collins actually, five of them probably said my wife would never have a first child.

01:10:48.905 --> 01:10:49.275
Oh, wow.

01:10:49.496 --> 01:10:50.055
And that's okay.

01:10:50.055 --> 01:10:50.876
Doctors, we love them.

01:10:51.305 --> 01:10:54.115
They're entitled, they're just giving their, they're practicing medicine.

01:10:54.126 --> 01:10:54.916
Yeah, yeah.

01:10:54.996 --> 01:10:57.475
And they, they, they just inherited what they saw.

01:10:57.555 --> 01:10:59.355
They don't, they, they, God had the final word.

01:10:59.826 --> 01:11:00.796
So Benny was born.

01:11:00.805 --> 01:11:01.676
He's our first miracle.

01:11:01.996 --> 01:11:05.775
And then we were working for eight years on where's our second, where's our sweetie.

01:11:05.775 --> 01:11:08.166
And we, and, uh, our hand, it came along.

01:11:08.275 --> 01:11:16.676
So we have two eight years apart and, uh, we're good with, you know, we talked about maybe, you know, filling the gap with adoption and it just wasn't there.

01:11:16.676 --> 01:11:20.426
And, and, um, now our, our daughter's working on having more.

01:11:20.426 --> 01:11:29.791
And so, um, We, I did fall in love with two sweet twins in Africa and Kenya my first trip and I got the little safari phone and I called my wife.

01:11:29.791 --> 01:11:34.070
It's like two bucks a minute and I'm saying, honey, these two sweeties, I want to bring them home.

01:11:34.081 --> 01:11:35.211
For only 40, 000.

01:11:35.211 --> 01:11:35.871
So bad.

01:11:36.661 --> 01:11:37.150
We couldn't.

01:11:37.171 --> 01:11:38.091
This is what was true.

01:11:38.100 --> 01:11:40.850
A trip is, um, we found out.

01:11:41.506 --> 01:11:49.136
Especially by the second trip that you, they, they want the children in there till they're 18, they will not release them from orphanages till they're 18 in Kenya, Africa.

01:11:49.256 --> 01:11:49.395
Okay.

01:11:49.456 --> 01:11:50.595
That was what it was then.

01:11:50.595 --> 01:11:51.905
To keep them there almost virtually.

01:11:52.065 --> 01:11:56.546
You said that, it's, it's, it's a, it's an income for the people, right?

01:11:56.555 --> 01:11:56.826
Sure.

01:11:56.855 --> 01:11:57.826
Work the work.

01:11:57.826 --> 01:11:57.975
So.

01:12:01.801 --> 01:12:05.201
That's actually what happened, Kurt was, uh, we just had to say no.

01:12:05.201 --> 01:12:06.310
And I mean, I just wept.

01:12:06.451 --> 01:12:10.400
I was, I was actually in physical, it was heavy.

01:12:10.711 --> 01:12:12.501
Yeah, I don't doubt it.

01:12:12.501 --> 01:12:16.751
Cause, uh, I hadn't even been around him very long, but you know, it's just weird how that happens.

01:12:16.751 --> 01:12:16.970
Yeah.

01:12:16.970 --> 01:12:17.360
Yeah.

01:12:18.161 --> 01:12:21.070
Do you feel like you wish you would have tried harder somehow or something?

01:12:21.081 --> 01:12:22.921
Maybe it was kind of a little bit of a regret there.

01:12:22.921 --> 01:12:27.470
And I, I mean, people, when I was in Detroit, mom.

01:12:27.765 --> 01:12:37.386
When I was born, she had a beautiful, loving, uh, what happened to be a black woman named Del that took care of me while she was working for Northwest Orient Airlines.

01:12:37.876 --> 01:12:40.546
And, um, I just loved her.

01:12:40.546 --> 01:12:41.605
She sang over me.

01:12:41.605 --> 01:12:42.985
I'm sure she was a Christian woman.

01:12:42.985 --> 01:12:48.565
Cause I'll tell you what, if I, if I hear any music right now, that's old time gospel stuff that she sang over me, I just get goosebumps.

01:12:49.576 --> 01:12:51.966
I know something was, uh, imparted to me.

01:12:51.966 --> 01:12:52.136
Right.

01:12:52.626 --> 01:12:52.956
Yeah.

01:12:53.265 --> 01:12:55.855
And, um, and was your dad a musician and stuff?

01:12:55.865 --> 01:12:56.905
No, no, no.

01:12:56.935 --> 01:12:58.515
Cause you talked about, he didn't even yodel.

01:12:58.586 --> 01:13:00.336
Everybody thought he'd yodel cause he was Swiss.

01:13:01.185 --> 01:13:02.525
He just said, I don't yodel.

01:13:04.025 --> 01:13:04.615
But, uh, yeah.

01:13:04.926 --> 01:13:09.426
She, when I started calling her mom, mommy, mom came home.

01:13:09.895 --> 01:13:14.765
That was the last time she worked until, um, she got back here.

01:13:15.185 --> 01:13:25.155
And I think when we got through almost high school, about most of the high school, she went to HP and became a, she, she went to, um, cast tech in Detroit.

01:13:25.440 --> 01:13:29.081
And, uh, she came here and became a chemical, chemical mix operator.

01:13:29.301 --> 01:13:32.701
She ran like five departments for HP and all at once, man.

01:13:32.711 --> 01:13:38.470
I mean, she was very intelligent lady, but she gave up the work deal to be home for the kids.

01:13:39.020 --> 01:13:41.240
But dad then worked a second job or so.

01:13:41.525 --> 01:13:42.036
Or more.

01:13:42.095 --> 01:13:42.605
All right.

01:13:42.706 --> 01:13:44.155
And he had to study for his citizenship.

01:13:44.155 --> 01:13:45.895
And you never saw him almost.

01:13:45.895 --> 01:13:47.195
I saw him pretty often.

01:13:47.195 --> 01:13:52.576
I mean, we, we didn't watch, we were not allowed to watch football on the weekends, unless all the work was done.

01:13:52.626 --> 01:13:53.775
He didn't understand that.

01:13:53.855 --> 01:13:56.105
The American side of football and sports.

01:13:57.136 --> 01:13:59.445
He was all about not competitive.

01:14:00.451 --> 01:14:02.930
Only to be timed to take a mountain.

01:14:02.930 --> 01:14:15.671
Like he would time himself to climb whatever the Matterhorn is one, the North face or whatever, Yugoslavian mountains, he would time that, but there was never a competitive sport thing within no sport ball.

01:14:15.680 --> 01:14:19.701
It just wasn't there in their culture where he was raised.

01:14:19.701 --> 01:14:19.951
Right.

01:14:19.951 --> 01:14:31.661
So he had a hard time understanding or justifying having us sitting on our asses for three or four hours, watching a football game where your mom and dad Quite a while into your marriage and oh, yeah, there's not still around.

01:14:31.680 --> 01:14:33.070
No, there's still mom still alive.

01:14:33.091 --> 01:14:39.581
She's 89 She lives in that we did build a an ADU and a dwelling unit home on my seven acres.

01:14:39.610 --> 01:14:41.680
Oh, yeah So we take care of her.

01:14:41.680 --> 01:14:42.530
She takes care of us.

01:14:42.560 --> 01:14:43.011
Thank God.

01:14:43.011 --> 01:14:52.140
My wife really is her caregiver I mean, she's had some mini strokes and some some issues A little bit of memory thing going on, but, um, for the most part, she's still with us.

01:14:52.180 --> 01:15:03.430
Dude, it's such a blessing for her and for you to have her there, I'm sure, but especially for her to not be kind of strapped into some thing, although it's It happens, right?

01:15:03.430 --> 01:15:04.121
People It happens.

01:15:04.121 --> 01:15:08.440
And they build community there too, in those assisted living homes and different places.

01:15:08.985 --> 01:15:13.805
Uh, memory care facilities, we'll call them, and whatever else, but it's sure nice to be around family.

01:15:13.805 --> 01:15:15.926
Oh, we're so thankful, and she's right there.

01:15:15.996 --> 01:15:21.395
I mean, she watches the place, and the kids can come, grandchildren, great grands can come see her there.

01:15:21.466 --> 01:15:22.905
So, it's, it's been a blessing.

01:15:23.105 --> 01:15:33.091
One of our, uh, uh, Uh, practices on this podcast is to do one word description, often of the children or sometimes just we go straight to the grandchildren.

01:15:33.100 --> 01:15:34.911
Would you like to try that, uh, drill?

01:15:34.990 --> 01:15:35.301
Sure.

01:15:35.610 --> 01:15:38.730
um, what would you say about your son?

01:15:39.610 --> 01:15:40.610
Benny is, um.

01:15:41.256 --> 01:15:44.706
Amazing what he can do, what he's producing right now.

01:15:44.746 --> 01:15:47.365
Just so he's so multitaskable.

01:15:47.365 --> 01:15:57.886
Um, I remember even only one thing I ever did that was close to what he's doing is, is I would have sometimes two phones.

01:15:58.350 --> 01:16:01.461
One on each ear like kind of like trying to broker a deal while you're buying it.

01:16:01.461 --> 01:16:06.171
Yeah, they kind of called me the Benny the Broker and I was actually calling for pro numbers for a truck coming in.

01:16:06.180 --> 01:16:06.740
Right, right.

01:16:07.541 --> 01:16:09.610
I can tell you that answer in just a second here.

01:16:09.610 --> 01:16:10.631
I'll get right back to you.

01:16:10.640 --> 01:16:11.041
Hold.

01:16:11.051 --> 01:16:11.661
I'm on this one.

01:16:11.690 --> 01:16:14.690
It was just kind of like on the floor, like multi tasking.

01:16:14.690 --> 01:16:15.381
Yeah, the stock exchange.

01:16:15.411 --> 01:16:17.975
But I loved it because I'm an adrenaline junkie to a point.

01:16:18.666 --> 01:16:25.015
And so I think Benny likes it, but, uh, he, he is, he is a very, very much of a people person.

01:16:25.855 --> 01:16:27.605
Yeah, very much easy to listen.

01:16:27.605 --> 01:16:34.315
I mean, they love him and what's cool is that he, he, he crosses all, um, demographic.

01:16:34.591 --> 01:16:35.171
Age groups.

01:16:35.171 --> 01:16:47.860
I mean, he, he doesn't appeal just to the people of his own age, but no, the oldies, like he just, he just, he just, he just gets in flows and gets in whatever they're into.

01:16:47.871 --> 01:16:49.850
He, he, he, he can zero in on it.

01:16:50.171 --> 01:16:51.541
He gets the pulse quick.

01:16:51.591 --> 01:16:51.970
I dig it.

01:16:52.030 --> 01:16:52.461
I dig it.

01:16:52.511 --> 01:16:59.631
I, I want your daughter's name again, Hannah, Hannah, and she's my sweetheart.

01:16:59.631 --> 01:17:00.371
Yeah, she's.

01:17:01.011 --> 01:17:04.411
She's working on that and she's a mini me of my wife.

01:17:04.461 --> 01:17:04.810
Okay.

01:17:04.810 --> 01:17:07.131
Their voice print and their look.

01:17:07.320 --> 01:17:08.041
Oh, interesting.

01:17:08.390 --> 01:17:14.331
She's the tender one and, and she's, even more doctors said that my wife would not have her.

01:17:14.951 --> 01:17:15.150
Oh, wow.

01:17:15.201 --> 01:17:20.390
So she was such a, a miracle that, um Big surprise, but after eight years, too, I'm sure.

01:17:20.390 --> 01:17:21.591
It was amazing.

01:17:21.591 --> 01:17:24.600
In fact, the doctor is retired now from this, from Loveland.

01:17:24.680 --> 01:17:26.640
Um, his name was, um, Sandy.

01:17:26.640 --> 01:17:30.041
His nickname was Sandy, which is my wife's name, Sandy.

01:17:30.051 --> 01:17:41.041
And, um He said, I don't really want to jeopardize this pregnancy, but can, can, would you consider, um, my wife going to Denver to university hospital?

01:17:41.560 --> 01:17:45.421
Because what they were witnessing with my daughter coming.

01:17:45.820 --> 01:17:48.701
Oh, that she was developing properly was a surprise.

01:17:48.711 --> 01:17:50.440
Was not even medically.

01:17:51.051 --> 01:17:52.220
It shouldn't have happened.

01:17:52.220 --> 01:17:53.270
It shouldn't be happening.

01:17:53.270 --> 01:17:55.310
It's what, what is this?

01:17:55.350 --> 01:17:59.810
Well, we would say it's, it's, it's, it's beyond, you know, explanation.

01:17:59.810 --> 01:18:00.430
It's a miracle.

01:18:00.430 --> 01:18:00.680
Yeah.

01:18:00.680 --> 01:18:02.331
It's, it's, it's a God thing, you know?

01:18:02.610 --> 01:18:04.220
But so we'd pray about it.

01:18:04.220 --> 01:18:06.190
We're like, yeah, we don't want to jeopardize this man.

01:18:06.190 --> 01:18:07.201
But is this you Lord?

01:18:07.201 --> 01:18:08.650
I mean, you want to do this?

01:18:08.650 --> 01:18:10.530
You want to, I mean, you want some more glory.

01:18:10.530 --> 01:18:12.591
We'll do it, but we don't want to jeopardize this pregnancy.

01:18:13.735 --> 01:18:20.265
So we, uh, we had a piece about it and we, we went to Denver and they got to see it and the doctors were just astounded.

01:18:20.265 --> 01:18:23.376
And we're like, you know, we don't know what this effect is going to have on them.

01:18:23.515 --> 01:18:23.865
Right.

01:18:23.905 --> 01:18:25.666
I mean, I'd really don't even know.

01:18:25.666 --> 01:18:29.695
Maybe we'll, we'll know someday, but, um, we were obedient.

01:18:29.756 --> 01:18:30.905
It's better than sacrificing it.

01:18:31.105 --> 01:18:32.815
So we did that.

01:18:32.916 --> 01:18:34.746
That is true statement right there, huh?

01:18:34.805 --> 01:18:35.076
Yeah.

01:18:35.126 --> 01:18:38.605
That's like the, the, the shift from Jewish.

01:18:38.970 --> 01:18:41.280
Culture to Christian culture in some ways.

01:18:41.421 --> 01:18:41.850
Yeah.

01:18:42.230 --> 01:18:44.421
Uh, or even from Catholic to Christian in some ways.

01:18:44.421 --> 01:18:45.078
Sure.

01:18:45.078 --> 01:18:45.737
Uh.

01:18:45.737 --> 01:18:46.395
Sure.

01:18:46.855 --> 01:18:51.780
But I won't go there just yet, or, uh, one more question on the family side.

01:18:51.780 --> 01:18:52.576
We're going pretty deep on a lot of other stuff.

01:18:52.576 --> 01:18:55.216
Oh yeah, there's no questions off limits in this show.

01:18:55.555 --> 01:18:56.235
That's why it's a crazy experience.

01:18:56.235 --> 01:18:56.985
I'm impressed.

01:18:56.985 --> 01:18:58.105
I did not know.

01:18:58.126 --> 01:19:05.445
So, uh, why do you suppose Sandy, um, said yes to that second date, third date, fourth date?

01:19:06.365 --> 01:19:07.836
It just felt right for her too, do you think?

01:19:07.845 --> 01:19:15.966
Yeah, we, we shared pretty heavy, I mean, She stood up and shared in the church at the time we were going to, and she shared about a miracle of how she had been healed.

01:19:16.025 --> 01:19:21.336
Actually she had medically been checked up here in Fort Collins and then she was healed.

01:19:21.355 --> 01:19:23.506
She went back in, the doctor said, what happened to that?

01:19:23.725 --> 01:19:25.015
She had endometriosis.

01:19:25.015 --> 01:19:28.865
I don't see at all what was going on here before.

01:19:29.275 --> 01:19:30.206
So it was a miracle.

01:19:30.815 --> 01:19:38.470
And so she was standing up, sharing this in the church, you know, that we were going to and the church at that time, no, No criticism, just didn't embrace it.

01:19:39.140 --> 01:19:42.190
And I stood there and listen, I mean, I sat there and listened to her.

01:19:42.190 --> 01:19:43.350
I didn't know her that well yet.

01:19:44.030 --> 01:19:46.841
And I listened to her and I just fell in love with her, her boldness.

01:19:49.680 --> 01:19:52.671
And, uh, It's pretty brave.

01:19:52.780 --> 01:19:53.930
Yeah, to share that.

01:19:53.930 --> 01:19:54.970
It was pretty heavy.

01:19:55.341 --> 01:20:01.150
And then she, I was considering going to the Philippines on a world mission, mission trip.

01:20:01.180 --> 01:20:02.970
First one I'd ever gone on.

01:20:03.051 --> 01:20:03.400
Okay.

01:20:03.751 --> 01:20:08.470
And she said, she came up to me and talked to me in the hallway and said, Hey, I don't know what's going on with you.

01:20:08.671 --> 01:20:11.320
And this was the actual, one of the initial meetings with her.

01:20:11.320 --> 01:20:11.720
Okay.

01:20:11.831 --> 01:20:13.251
But I've been praying for you.

01:20:13.666 --> 01:20:15.485
And she just kind of read my mail.

01:20:15.655 --> 01:20:17.485
She just like, was getting some intel.

01:20:17.555 --> 01:20:18.855
You know, spiritual intel on me.

01:20:19.386 --> 01:20:21.015
I'm going, this is kind of freaking me out.

01:20:21.756 --> 01:20:24.485
Because she is really zeroed in, right?

01:20:25.525 --> 01:20:28.805
And we weren't attracted to It wasn't a physical thing.

01:20:28.815 --> 01:20:30.155
I'm telling you, we were like, whatever.

01:20:30.336 --> 01:20:31.095
She's not even good looking, right?

01:20:31.095 --> 01:20:32.345
We saw each other, she is.

01:20:32.655 --> 01:20:35.615
But we saw each other and we were like, like, whatever.

01:20:35.676 --> 01:20:35.985
Yeah.

01:20:36.195 --> 01:20:36.975
Attitude, right?

01:20:37.216 --> 01:20:41.095
Initially, which was good because you were checked out because we didn't want to be we were done with that.

01:20:41.426 --> 01:20:41.666
Yeah.

01:20:41.666 --> 01:20:41.985
Yeah.

01:20:42.046 --> 01:20:42.326
Yeah.

01:20:42.355 --> 01:20:52.315
So, um, she, that just was like, well, that got my attention because nobody's ever done that or said that to me like that.

01:20:52.336 --> 01:20:53.435
So she's tuned.

01:20:53.445 --> 01:20:54.256
She's tuned in.

01:20:54.826 --> 01:21:09.015
So I was attracted to the spiritual, her spiritual, uh, her faith, her, her, where she was with the Lord, what she'd been through, which I didn't even know half of intellectual relationship spiritually, but there's also just that kind of tuned in part, right?

01:21:09.046 --> 01:21:14.235
Like you can read every book and understand every principle, but it doesn't always go all the way.

01:21:14.286 --> 01:21:14.886
It was heavy.

01:21:15.791 --> 01:21:27.161
Like you were really drawn to her and her boldness and things like that But I'm not really sure that you answered my question about why she really Wanted to be with you as good so you were giving her attention.

01:21:27.341 --> 01:21:38.560
No, I think that was um, she She had a list and you made a list actually what she was looking for I mean she had heard this from somebody in some seminar teaching.

01:21:38.600 --> 01:21:48.525
Okay, all right thing or whatever and Because she had been She had been, uh, asked him, somebody asked him her to marry her three different times, three different guys.

01:21:48.576 --> 01:21:49.095
Oh, wow.

01:21:49.376 --> 01:22:01.435
And some of that occurred up here at the CSU Fort Collins area, actually, in those days, which is wild about our roots, which we'll get back to that more of that because she's fourth generation when their streets were dirt or her family, let's see on college.

01:22:01.966 --> 01:22:08.786
So we'll get back to that, but, um, back into this thing, she had that list and I was, and she was checking it off.

01:22:08.786 --> 01:22:09.786
She's going, geez.

01:22:10.595 --> 01:22:15.775
This guy's he's, this could be the guy, you know, but she didn't want to rush in.

01:22:15.886 --> 01:22:19.185
Like we shared with her, we're, we're, we're, we're, we don't go there right now.

01:22:19.586 --> 01:22:23.765
We're enjoying this dependence on God and just building this relationship right here.

01:22:24.966 --> 01:22:28.676
Um, and not be the flea on the dog, which is that co dependence thing.

01:22:28.735 --> 01:22:28.926
Yeah.

01:22:28.926 --> 01:22:29.095
Yeah.

01:22:29.095 --> 01:22:29.926
Talked about earlier.

01:22:30.746 --> 01:22:36.445
And, uh, because we were both that way, we were just having a hard time being by ourselves, which is okay.

01:22:36.466 --> 01:22:37.065
It's healthy.

01:22:37.235 --> 01:22:38.015
It's all right.

01:22:38.615 --> 01:22:42.355
So embrace that if you can, but, um, and enjoy it.

01:22:42.456 --> 01:22:56.235
Um, but, um, so we, we, we, we, the, the list came along and she started to, you know, I respected her and she went through some pretty crazy stuff as a young lady.

01:22:57.046 --> 01:23:01.445
And I had changed my whole behavioral pattern.

01:23:02.456 --> 01:23:03.695
Towards women period.

01:23:03.756 --> 01:23:07.636
And so she appreciated the fact that I was taking care of her.

01:23:07.796 --> 01:23:15.145
And I think I've become more, uh, through just being married to her for 43 years and hearing her testimony and what she's been through.

01:23:15.145 --> 01:23:18.645
I've become very sensitive to, to women and abuse.

01:23:18.695 --> 01:23:19.126
Yeah.

01:23:19.426 --> 01:23:22.636
Um, I mean, I wasn't, I wasn't that.

01:23:23.095 --> 01:23:26.065
In that whole world, that serious in a serious manner.

01:23:26.275 --> 01:23:35.655
But, but just know how many women have been, uh, violence either done or threatened, or they've done things that they, you know, the rape scene and stuff.

01:23:35.655 --> 01:23:36.695
I never got into that.

01:23:36.695 --> 01:23:37.136
Thank God.

01:23:37.136 --> 01:23:39.466
But the point was, what I'm saying to you is.

01:23:40.220 --> 01:23:43.171
When you, when you're married to somebody that's been through that stuff.

01:23:46.701 --> 01:23:49.801
I don't even let myself get pinned in.

01:23:49.801 --> 01:23:51.820
I always respect women so much for space.

01:23:51.911 --> 01:23:55.560
I mean, I tell my people, my salespeople, I said, no, don't ever corner a woman.

01:23:55.951 --> 01:23:56.320
Period.

01:23:56.341 --> 01:23:56.520
My man.

01:23:57.136 --> 01:24:00.655
Or my, my, my ladies to men, I mean, it's, it's a two way street.

01:24:01.126 --> 01:24:14.136
Don't just give people their space, respect their space and, and, and until you really understand the hurt people really feel, uh, and you can't totally a hundred percent, if you didn't do it, you didn't go through it or whatever.

01:24:14.155 --> 01:24:14.536
Totally.

01:24:15.166 --> 01:24:18.176
But you sure get a good indication of it.

01:24:18.185 --> 01:24:23.586
Those who abuse power are like some of the most terrible people in the world.

01:24:23.666 --> 01:24:23.996
Right.

01:24:24.065 --> 01:24:26.586
And it's one of the easiest things to do.

01:24:26.826 --> 01:24:35.586
And it can almost be done unintentionally or like, I mean, that sounds really weird, but like even just being appreciative of my.

01:24:35.996 --> 01:24:38.246
Role as an employer, right?

01:24:38.246 --> 01:24:46.355
And, and, you know, I've, I've worked hard to cultivate, I hopefully you see a respectful dialogue between me and Alma and stuff like that.

01:24:46.355 --> 01:24:49.496
But, you know, she depends on me for her paycheck, you know?

01:24:49.496 --> 01:25:01.485
And so to actual cultivate, uh, a culture where she's feels very comfortable to challenge me on significant decisions, I'm not talking about like rapey rapey or anything inappropriate.

01:25:01.695 --> 01:25:03.480
But no, I know where you're going.

01:25:03.480 --> 01:25:05.525
All around the board with power.

01:25:05.845 --> 01:25:09.345
You know, it doesn't mean because I've got the power that I'm all the decider.

01:25:09.345 --> 01:25:15.046
If you don't involve people in kind of decisions that affect them and stuff, that means you're actually not doing it right.

01:25:15.525 --> 01:25:15.876
Totally.

01:25:15.996 --> 01:25:35.496
I get what you're saying because If you have a strong personality and I do, it took me a while to understand how influential, who and how influential I was unintentionally where people want to please you and they, and they'll say, yes, I'll do that.

01:25:35.506 --> 01:25:41.256
Or, and, and you don't give them that, that freedom, bro, where you're saying, you know, you need to just talk to me, man.

01:25:41.256 --> 01:25:50.055
If I've, if I've, if I stepped over the line and I'm, I'm really not being sensitive to your needs or whatever, give them that space, but it's taken me.

01:25:51.041 --> 01:25:58.261
There was a Years! I'm not there yet! In my second year, or maybe first year of banking, there was a young lady that worked at the bank with me, uh, Holly Deserick.

01:25:58.490 --> 01:25:59.541
Deserick was her name.

01:25:59.551 --> 01:25:59.570
Mm hmm.

01:26:00.001 --> 01:26:01.070
Really, bright gal.

01:26:01.711 --> 01:26:05.740
And I was Asking her to do something or something, you know, something banking related.

01:26:05.770 --> 01:26:06.060
Sure.

01:26:06.110 --> 01:26:13.591
She's like, Kurt, you're, you're so damn persuasive that I'm going to find myself saying yes, but I don't want to.

01:26:13.591 --> 01:26:15.820
I told you I didn't, it's not part of my job.

01:26:15.831 --> 01:26:16.440
What the heck?

01:26:16.440 --> 01:26:16.961
Good for her.

01:26:16.961 --> 01:26:18.371
And she had a strength of personality.

01:26:18.371 --> 01:26:30.711
I mean, all the boys, uh, appreciated her and, but it, but it was one of the first cues, uh, and, So in, in, in local we've been studying this thing called HALOS relational intelligence, and I'm a green and white.

01:26:30.720 --> 01:26:32.621
The green is social relational.

01:26:33.190 --> 01:26:45.990
I'm both more empathetic, persuasive, encouraging, drama queen than most men, especially, but um, and then the white is Like full of ideas and innovation and philosophical conversations.

01:26:46.451 --> 01:26:49.560
Uh, and then my third part is kind of a drive, achieve or entrepreneur.

01:26:50.131 --> 01:26:55.440
I could tell we're probably of a very similar wiring, just based on our conversations, sharing this.

01:26:55.911 --> 01:26:56.650
In Loveland.

01:26:56.680 --> 01:26:57.131
Oh, yeah.

01:26:57.131 --> 01:26:58.451
At that, at that event there.

01:26:58.480 --> 01:26:59.190
At the district.

01:26:59.190 --> 01:26:59.551
Yeah, yeah.

01:26:59.551 --> 01:27:01.400
I remember, I was like, what is he talking about the colors?

01:27:01.400 --> 01:27:02.270
I, I caught on.

01:27:02.310 --> 01:27:02.970
Yeah, yeah.

01:27:02.970 --> 01:27:03.850
But I was a little bit on.

01:27:03.860 --> 01:27:05.371
We'll talk more about it in the future.

01:27:05.371 --> 01:27:21.581
But, uh, but like the intuition to recognize that not just you're, I mean, in your case, you're, you're, you're a big, tall guy, you know, over 200 pounds, um, you're, you know, And you're, you're a business owner and things.

01:27:21.581 --> 01:27:31.180
And so just recognizing that I'm both a, this person, but also be, I have these strengths that I might've, you know, it's like the Hulk accidentally squeezing his little cat to death.

01:27:31.230 --> 01:27:31.541
Right.

01:27:31.711 --> 01:27:31.871
Right.

01:27:32.180 --> 01:27:33.020
Like, Oh, I'm sorry.

01:27:33.020 --> 01:27:38.921
I didn't mean to insult your intelligence by the way I am connected with you in that or whatever that was.

01:27:38.951 --> 01:27:40.501
You don't like to stand over people.

01:27:40.501 --> 01:27:40.740
Do you?

01:27:40.770 --> 01:27:42.150
Yeah, no, you catch yourself.

01:27:42.150 --> 01:27:44.801
I'm, I'm like, people are sitting down like last night.

01:27:44.801 --> 01:27:46.001
We were, we were at a gathering.

01:27:46.041 --> 01:27:46.780
Oh, I could never.

01:27:46.810 --> 01:27:47.680
And I get on a knee.

01:27:48.475 --> 01:27:55.025
Especially if it's a, a lady, an older person, or I can sense, I can feel, I can feel them.

01:27:55.496 --> 01:28:01.195
I can feel the, I can see in their eyes, there's, there's like some intimidation possibly or whatever.

01:28:01.506 --> 01:28:03.286
It's like, so, so close the gap.

01:28:03.860 --> 01:28:11.560
Which means get on your knee, stop standing over, don't be, it's just, I am so sensitive to that.

01:28:11.671 --> 01:28:12.791
I don't like that at all.

01:28:13.041 --> 01:28:13.421
Right?

01:28:13.421 --> 01:28:16.511
I mean, and that's taken a while to get that in my, in my.

01:28:16.520 --> 01:28:18.980
Yeah, well it takes just awareness of yourself.

01:28:19.020 --> 01:28:20.430
In my behavioral patterns, right?

01:28:20.855 --> 01:28:22.225
We better hit the politics.

01:28:22.286 --> 01:28:22.515
Sure.

01:28:22.586 --> 01:28:25.515
Uh, why should people vote for you?

01:28:25.945 --> 01:28:27.466
November seven, man.

01:28:27.466 --> 01:28:34.636
I just, it's what's crazy is since 2020, it never stopped this question.

01:28:34.676 --> 01:28:35.716
Ben, are you going to run again?

01:28:35.905 --> 01:28:36.775
Ben, are you going to run again?

01:28:36.775 --> 01:28:38.216
And in business, you're vulnerable.

01:28:38.216 --> 01:28:39.515
You're like, you're right there.

01:28:39.515 --> 01:28:42.725
You're out in the open and they know where to find you.

01:28:42.725 --> 01:28:44.985
If you had too many skeletons, we'd be throwing them around the streets.

01:28:45.115 --> 01:28:45.826
There you go.

01:28:45.826 --> 01:28:47.136
And every day.

01:28:47.546 --> 01:28:50.996
Well, six days a week when we were six days a week, you hear are you going to run again?

01:28:50.996 --> 01:28:59.636
And then really this last, probably this last year, I've been sharing with people at different events that truthfully, people are going, Ben, you've got to run again.

01:29:00.145 --> 01:29:02.376
Watch my eyes, hear my voice.

01:29:02.895 --> 01:29:04.645
It's like, it's become more intense.

01:29:04.655 --> 01:29:06.286
It's, it's, it's a, it's not a.

01:29:06.485 --> 01:29:12.355
Demand, but it's a, it's a, you, you feel and you see in their countenance, a desperation.

01:29:12.786 --> 01:29:15.886
And that's really what I've observed because I'm a good observer of people.

01:29:15.886 --> 01:29:17.326
I watched their body lingo.

01:29:17.326 --> 01:29:18.765
I listened to them very carefully.

01:29:19.015 --> 01:29:30.041
I hear their voice and the tone and it, it has been Um, I didn't, I'm not doing it because of that, but it's part of it.

01:29:30.041 --> 01:29:36.190
It feels like if I, if somebody else, if I would have trusted anyone else to do this job, I would have got behind them.

01:29:36.360 --> 01:29:37.121
And I tried.

01:29:37.131 --> 01:29:53.511
It reminds me so much of, uh, when I was on the board of the Matthews house and was asked to become the chair, I was like, you know, it was like, it's so intimidating and You know, I can't, I don't see anybody else in the room that could probably do that or I did.

01:29:53.860 --> 01:29:54.070
Awesome.

01:29:54.081 --> 01:29:54.440
Yeah.

01:29:54.551 --> 01:29:54.900
Good job.

01:29:54.900 --> 01:29:56.185
Four years.

01:29:56.185 --> 01:29:57.469
Good job.

01:29:57.469 --> 01:30:00.310
But it was a big growth opportunity for me and the organization.

01:30:00.360 --> 01:30:01.711
But you knew it was right.

01:30:02.136 --> 01:30:06.576
I felt like it was committed pretty quick after you committed pretty quick, you know, it was, it was daunting.

01:30:06.636 --> 01:30:07.386
I was scared.

01:30:07.445 --> 01:30:07.536
Yeah.

01:30:07.595 --> 01:30:08.796
Uh, and it was right.

01:30:08.916 --> 01:30:09.336
You know?

01:30:09.515 --> 01:30:09.605
Yeah.

01:30:09.876 --> 01:30:12.546
So, but you, but you're really in honor of the people.

01:30:12.546 --> 01:30:13.536
I'm kind of switching.

01:30:13.536 --> 01:30:15.666
Well, when your says yes, I'm interviewing you a little bit.

01:30:15.666 --> 01:30:18.605
You know, you, when, when you feel called, when your heart says yes.

01:30:18.605 --> 01:30:18.695
Yeah.

01:30:18.815 --> 01:30:21.966
Um, you have to kind reject that to say no and Right.

01:30:22.086 --> 01:30:25.235
The less you do those kind of things, the better in your life.

01:30:25.595 --> 01:30:29.826
And that was how much I love the people though, is like seriously, if there was someone else that.

01:30:30.131 --> 01:30:31.161
Could do a better job.

01:30:31.270 --> 01:30:36.961
I actually said that to one person that I knew could, and, but decided not to.

01:30:37.520 --> 01:30:41.331
And I said, okay, then that's, that's kind of my last, you know what I'm saying?

01:30:41.740 --> 01:30:43.631
Okay, Lord, I'll do it.

01:30:43.640 --> 01:30:45.230
My God, help me please.

01:30:45.240 --> 01:30:46.761
Because, you know, you know what.

01:30:46.975 --> 01:31:01.996
What's ahead for the most part, you've been through it before, it's not comfy, it's not happiness all the time, it's sleepless nights, dude, but you know, and, and, and if I lose, I will, I will have done everything I can.

01:31:02.105 --> 01:31:02.336
Yeah.

01:31:03.076 --> 01:31:04.876
Um, how did you feel about the debate last night?

01:31:04.966 --> 01:31:05.826
Did you watch that, Jim?

01:31:06.015 --> 01:31:27.854
Yeah, I, I was, uh, It was hard for me to watch and listen because I didn't feel there was a lot of untruth to me that was spoken because I know of what history and what I've heard and seen from said party, the other folks, and I, for me, my being raised that your word is your bond when you, when you, you are supposed to do what you say you're going to do and you just don't lie.

01:31:27.854 --> 01:31:29.461
You just don't tell an untruth.

01:31:29.470 --> 01:31:31.900
You say what's true and to hear.

01:31:33.711 --> 01:31:36.150
come out in some of those areas.

01:31:36.150 --> 01:31:38.820
It was really difficult to listen to.

01:31:38.820 --> 01:31:40.730
And I'm, I'm concerned about how many people.

01:31:41.860 --> 01:31:43.570
Are just buying that bill of goods.

01:31:43.610 --> 01:31:44.091
Oh yeah.

01:31:44.220 --> 01:31:46.121
This is so ever so concerned.

01:31:46.121 --> 01:31:48.180
Kamala improved her chances last night.

01:31:48.190 --> 01:31:49.581
She did better than I thought she would.

01:31:49.581 --> 01:31:50.051
For sure.

01:31:50.110 --> 01:31:53.541
I was expecting some kind of a hiatus moment or whatever.

01:31:53.560 --> 01:31:56.230
What's my takeaway and answer right now.

01:31:56.280 --> 01:32:05.280
And it's early on is I hope to God that we, people look back at the track records and do some research, but that's, that's going to take some effort.

01:32:05.820 --> 01:32:07.860
And are the people willing to exert that?

01:32:08.631 --> 01:32:09.220
Unlikely.

01:32:09.421 --> 01:32:10.081
Uh, we'll see.

01:32:10.591 --> 01:32:11.350
You know, I still.

01:32:11.881 --> 01:32:17.060
I was, I was actually an RFK guy, uh, cause I don't, I'm just kind of that kind of guy.

01:32:17.350 --> 01:32:18.680
I've never voted mainstream.

01:32:18.850 --> 01:32:21.820
I've never yet casted a mainstream vote for president.

01:32:21.831 --> 01:32:29.220
So, um, but I felt like when RFK dropped and, and endorsed Trump, I felt, thought it was just about going to be over.

01:32:29.810 --> 01:32:39.525
And then just to see the, the transformation from the worst vice president of all time to the, the most hope filled, joyous candidate that we've seen in, in history.

01:32:39.975 --> 01:32:40.966
Multiple generations.

01:32:41.046 --> 01:32:42.115
It's fascinating to me.

01:32:42.426 --> 01:32:44.365
Well, they put her in a room for several days.

01:32:45.015 --> 01:32:45.996
He did some serious homework.

01:32:45.996 --> 01:32:46.496
Oh yeah.

01:32:46.496 --> 01:32:47.685
No, they prepped her really good.

01:32:47.685 --> 01:32:48.796
I'm sure they gave her the questions.

01:32:50.475 --> 01:32:52.286
And she got, he, he got riled.

01:32:52.286 --> 01:32:52.765
He got a little bit.

01:32:52.855 --> 01:32:53.246
Oh yeah.

01:32:53.296 --> 01:32:57.626
Well, he came in angry and the three on one kind of got to him and three one.

01:32:57.626 --> 01:32:59.815
That's what I used to take it a little bit of a chill pill.

01:33:00.305 --> 01:33:01.796
Not helpful, not helpful.

01:33:01.805 --> 01:33:04.055
If they would have started with Kamala, have you been drinking?

01:33:04.055 --> 01:33:04.435
That would have.

01:33:04.636 --> 01:33:09.695
Like broken the mood a little bit, uh, Anyway, we'll see.

01:33:09.695 --> 01:33:10.565
It's up to the people.

01:33:10.565 --> 01:33:13.565
I, we'll see, I I, I, I believe in miracles.

01:33:13.746 --> 01:33:15.216
Catherine Coolman back in the day.

01:33:15.216 --> 01:33:17.796
I mean, I'm, I'm a half full guy, not half empty.

01:33:17.796 --> 01:33:23.336
So I'm optimistic in faith that there's gonna be another miracle like happened with, with Hillary.

01:33:23.636 --> 01:33:24.115
Yeah.

01:33:24.145 --> 01:33:29.666
Clinton and, and, and Donald Trump, because, I mean, it's gonna take that.

01:33:30.595 --> 01:33:33.386
How much work is being done in the voting world and all that?

01:33:33.461 --> 01:33:33.940
I don't know.

01:33:33.940 --> 01:33:34.220
Right.

01:33:34.220 --> 01:33:34.855
I don't know that.

01:33:34.855 --> 01:33:36.956
People ask me all the time, Ben, I thought you won.

01:33:36.956 --> 01:33:38.485
I mean, people thought I was a commissioner.

01:33:38.636 --> 01:33:38.815
Right.

01:33:38.905 --> 01:33:42.060
honest to God, for years after 2020, know you didn't win.

01:33:42.201 --> 01:33:43.405
You know, how could you have not won?

01:33:43.405 --> 01:33:47.006
I'm telling you, I love those people, but they really didn't know.

01:33:47.216 --> 01:33:47.576
Right?

01:33:47.876 --> 01:33:49.765
Because they didn't see anyone else.

01:33:49.815 --> 01:33:52.315
They, they, they didn't know.

01:33:52.315 --> 01:33:53.655
And that was said a lot.

01:33:53.655 --> 01:33:55.865
I'll just have to say, it was just, I had to laugh.

01:33:55.895 --> 01:33:56.706
I'd have to chuckle.

01:33:57.095 --> 01:33:57.836
I'm going, no, I didn't make it.

01:33:58.166 --> 01:34:00.086
Or, or it was, didn't you make city councilman?

01:34:00.126 --> 01:34:01.475
I'm like, no, or mayor.

01:34:01.506 --> 01:34:03.395
I mean, it was a lot of confusion, right?

01:34:03.395 --> 01:34:10.006
And people still to this day, if somebody hears this, is that everyone in this County, it's a County wide vote for County commissioners.

01:34:10.076 --> 01:34:10.725
Oh, interesting.

01:34:11.386 --> 01:34:15.926
As in other words, some people thought, well, I have to live in district three to vote for you.

01:34:15.926 --> 01:34:16.166
Right.

01:34:16.166 --> 01:34:16.216
Okay.

01:34:16.355 --> 01:34:16.796
Yeah.

01:34:16.956 --> 01:34:18.086
I had some big donors.

01:34:18.095 --> 01:34:19.090
Oh, what an interesting thing.

01:34:19.090 --> 01:34:19.716
That were confused about that.

01:34:20.065 --> 01:34:20.655
And so.

01:34:21.025 --> 01:34:22.836
So my vote counts for you.

01:34:22.945 --> 01:34:23.786
Oh, hell yeah.

01:34:23.786 --> 01:34:25.706
But, but you don't represent me necessarily.

01:34:25.706 --> 01:34:25.831
No.

01:34:25.831 --> 01:34:26.506
No, I will.

01:34:26.815 --> 01:34:27.185
Yes.

01:34:27.216 --> 01:34:27.926
That's another one.

01:34:28.086 --> 01:34:28.746
That's another misnomer.

01:34:29.185 --> 01:34:32.706
Because all three of the county commissioners on the BOCC, Board of County Commissioners.

01:34:33.990 --> 01:34:36.970
Represent everyone and they work for everyone.

01:34:37.360 --> 01:34:46.680
For some reason, this dish district one, two, three, there's a little more concentration of their efforts or their like, like, like, like you say, uh, okay.

01:34:46.680 --> 01:34:47.470
I'm Kurt bear.

01:34:47.470 --> 01:34:48.980
I live in John, Mr.

01:34:48.980 --> 01:34:49.650
John commissioner.

01:34:49.650 --> 01:34:58.180
My future endorser really having trouble with somebody, you know, future endorser that my chickens are, you know, crapping it up in the neighborhood.

01:34:58.180 --> 01:34:59.690
I got a rooster.

01:34:59.841 --> 01:35:08.030
Somebody called in that got an Kurt bear, you know, that's, or a property rights issue.

01:35:08.350 --> 01:35:15.171
Now, if that's not resolved in, by your neighbors, actually infringing on my neighbor's yard for a while, I was trying to do adverse possession.

01:35:15.201 --> 01:35:18.211
So I'm talking about, that's, that's not, it's not even funny.

01:35:18.230 --> 01:35:20.961
Cause HOAs, HOAs are big issues, right?

01:35:20.990 --> 01:35:28.140
And they, they, the commissioners hope that you would resolve those, but if they are not, then you have to subpoena, you have to ask to be heard.

01:35:28.216 --> 01:35:28.855
By all three.

01:35:30.225 --> 01:35:34.525
So if the issue is bigger than you can deal with, then you go before all three.

01:35:34.555 --> 01:35:35.216
Oh, interesting.

01:35:35.536 --> 01:35:37.015
And they all, it's a hearing.

01:35:37.115 --> 01:35:38.095
It's a commissioner's hearing.

01:35:38.456 --> 01:35:44.115
I wish we could talk for 20 minutes more about Lerner County stuff, but I'm not going to make space right now.

01:35:44.176 --> 01:35:44.655
That's all right.

01:35:44.706 --> 01:35:45.496
Cause you're awesome.

01:35:45.805 --> 01:35:55.305
Um, What were the three things it is the three points that I'm all about are that things need to be more reasonable Affordable and sustainable in this county.

01:35:55.695 --> 01:36:01.926
I dig it especially in regard to business Yeah business and property rights property real estate development things like that.

01:36:01.935 --> 01:36:02.256
Thank you.

01:36:02.605 --> 01:36:14.095
We have a closing segment It is the loco experience the craziest experience from your lifetime that you're willing to share with our listeners You can smoke a joint right now on the Loco Experience.

01:36:14.095 --> 01:36:14.895
That'd be pretty crazy.

01:36:15.956 --> 01:36:20.136
That would be, especially since I have nightmares of doing that.

01:36:20.185 --> 01:36:24.445
You know, I haven't done that for 44 years after the acid didn't work.

01:36:25.166 --> 01:36:29.445
Um, so craziest experience.

01:36:29.466 --> 01:36:29.826
Wow.

01:36:29.826 --> 01:36:30.536
That's really good.

01:36:30.536 --> 01:36:32.126
I know you've talked about, I'm going to give a good one.

01:36:32.126 --> 01:36:35.546
I'm going to give a good, well, that was a wild, that was a wild one too.

01:36:36.065 --> 01:36:38.296
Well, you might, you can't tease me with the good one.

01:36:40.310 --> 01:36:41.501
I'll let you be the judge.

01:36:42.060 --> 01:36:58.600
So I was in Africa and there's this awesome guy, um, that was the, the man that actually really had the vision of, of doing an orphanage, building it and bringing in countries like Sweden, bring a team.

01:36:58.600 --> 01:37:02.261
And these are Christian organizations for churches or humanitarian.

01:37:02.680 --> 01:37:03.461
Organizations.

01:37:03.461 --> 01:37:09.881
And they'd come in and do something with these orphanages or really, they would come there and spend time with the kids.

01:37:09.890 --> 01:37:12.110
What they're really wanting to do is just spend time with the kids.

01:37:12.110 --> 01:37:22.461
Because, um, what we found was that the, the, the local African people were, would rather have the support.

01:37:22.490 --> 01:37:29.470
They were living on 2 us a day, a man or a woman person per day person.

01:37:30.341 --> 01:37:33.740
And they were very happy to build the buildings.

01:37:34.060 --> 01:37:38.350
And to finish the buildings for the orphanages for the orphans.

01:37:38.371 --> 01:37:43.011
And there was like, this one was when we first went there, the first time there was 500 kids in there.

01:37:43.280 --> 01:37:59.310
Oh, we're dying from, um, uh, not, not just AIDS, but, but also the, um, the water malaria and typhoid, you name it, it was just outside of, uh, the cool room.

01:38:00.595 --> 01:38:01.046
In Nairobi.

01:38:01.105 --> 01:38:02.966
Nice job in the R roll and uh, thanks man.

01:38:03.115 --> 01:38:04.496
I've been there, you know, worked on a long time.

01:38:04.855 --> 01:38:05.350
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:38:05.666 --> 01:38:10.076
And, uh, I like, I like people using, saying people's names, pronouncing'em properly.

01:38:10.105 --> 01:38:10.855
I try the best I can.

01:38:10.855 --> 01:38:11.365
Love that.

01:38:11.636 --> 01:38:12.176
Uh, so.

01:38:13.761 --> 01:38:24.201
Um, we, we really twisted our, it changed our Western way of thinking because we're there to build these buildings and they're like, no, no, we want to hear from you guys.

01:38:24.201 --> 01:38:25.240
We want to hear your testimonies.

01:38:25.240 --> 01:38:26.350
We want to hear about your lives.

01:38:26.350 --> 01:38:27.411
You want to hear what you do.

01:38:27.421 --> 01:38:31.060
We want to know, because we have children here that want to become astronauts.

01:38:31.070 --> 01:38:32.051
They want to be doctors.

01:38:32.051 --> 01:38:33.001
They want to be there.

01:38:33.001 --> 01:38:35.270
They're do they're, they're, they're like, they're learning.

01:38:35.301 --> 01:38:35.841
They're serious.

01:38:35.841 --> 01:38:36.381
They're hungry.

01:38:36.480 --> 01:38:38.371
And they're teaching these kids in these orphanages.

01:38:38.371 --> 01:38:38.591
Right.

01:38:38.591 --> 01:38:38.618
Right.

01:38:38.618 --> 01:38:38.645
Right.

01:38:38.786 --> 01:38:39.206
Yeah, yeah.

01:38:39.336 --> 01:38:41.796
And so, um, that twisted my thinking.

01:38:41.815 --> 01:38:44.855
Well, we got into the spiritual thing with this doctor.

01:38:44.855 --> 01:38:47.176
Um, Oh, I forgot his, his name.

01:38:47.176 --> 01:38:59.676
Now he's, he's actually passed since now, since then, but him and I did this prayer together where I repented for the, the white man's, uh, atrocities to the black and he repented.

01:38:59.676 --> 01:39:02.496
We were on our knees praying together and did communion together.

01:39:02.905 --> 01:39:04.586
Uh, and we buried the elements.

01:39:04.586 --> 01:39:08.456
We did wine, we did bread, we buried oil in a hole and we buried them.

01:39:08.456 --> 01:39:11.086
We did a ceremonial repentance prayer.

01:39:11.155 --> 01:39:11.426
Right?

01:39:11.426 --> 01:39:12.536
It just came together.

01:39:12.536 --> 01:39:13.865
It wasn't something that was programmed.

01:39:13.865 --> 01:39:15.355
It wasn't something we read about necessarily.

01:39:15.355 --> 01:39:16.886
It was just there, right?

01:39:17.506 --> 01:39:20.015
And after we did that.

01:39:20.345 --> 01:39:21.055
prayer time.

01:39:21.506 --> 01:39:25.086
They had a calf born that was black and white.

01:39:26.046 --> 01:39:28.315
That was an, it was a total anomaly.

01:39:28.565 --> 01:39:30.405
It was a sign for the whole village.

01:39:30.445 --> 01:39:31.576
It freaked them out actually.

01:39:32.345 --> 01:39:35.605
But we gave God the glory because it was a sign from God.

01:39:35.615 --> 01:39:36.975
We, we believed, right?

01:39:36.975 --> 01:39:38.315
Oh, I really didn't say that.

01:39:38.326 --> 01:39:40.145
This is something they brought to our attention.

01:39:40.466 --> 01:39:45.315
Like, Hey, right after our black and white reconciliation prayer, this is like totally not normal.

01:39:45.615 --> 01:39:46.645
They, they knew that.

01:39:46.645 --> 01:39:46.876
Right.

01:39:46.876 --> 01:39:48.280
So it was, They took it as a sign.

01:39:48.280 --> 01:39:49.720
We're like, well, good, I dig it.

01:39:50.121 --> 01:39:56.280
So that was, that was probably one of the craziest things that happened right there, actually in my life.

01:39:56.810 --> 01:40:03.070
Um, that was not crazy in a bad way, but maybe even more impactful as well.

01:40:03.470 --> 01:40:08.190
If I could say simultaneously, start to see and appreciate Providence, you see it a lot more.

01:40:10.261 --> 01:40:13.350
Nothing's really a coincidence when you live life long enough.

01:40:13.350 --> 01:40:15.621
It's like, wow, really?

01:40:16.100 --> 01:40:16.541
Wow.

01:40:16.541 --> 01:40:16.850
Okay.

01:40:16.850 --> 01:40:17.320
I get it.

01:40:17.350 --> 01:40:20.291
You know, it took me a while to hit me upside the head, but okay.

01:40:20.291 --> 01:40:20.921
I get it now.

01:40:20.921 --> 01:40:21.251
Right.

01:40:22.411 --> 01:40:25.220
So I don't know what my other one was yet, but I might get it.

01:40:25.240 --> 01:40:26.211
We can just move on.

01:40:26.400 --> 01:40:32.211
Uh, if, uh, people want to support your campaign or learn more about your platform, um, where would you send them?

01:40:32.320 --> 01:40:33.470
I would send them to vote.

01:40:33.905 --> 01:40:36.256
The number four, ASTE.

01:40:36.286 --> 01:40:36.676
com.

01:40:37.015 --> 01:40:37.605
A S T E.

01:40:37.615 --> 01:40:38.466
A S T E.

01:40:38.515 --> 01:40:39.448
OVO for Oste.

01:40:39.448 --> 01:40:39.654
Oste.

01:40:39.654 --> 01:40:40.479
Yeah, vote for Oste.

01:40:40.479 --> 01:40:41.746
I've been saying it Oste forever.

01:40:41.746 --> 01:40:42.405
Yeah, that's alright.

01:40:42.416 --> 01:40:42.916
That's alright.

01:40:42.916 --> 01:40:43.286
I'll try.

01:40:43.326 --> 01:40:45.666
No, you know, Oste Spamante is fine Oste.

01:40:45.666 --> 01:40:48.086
It's, it's Austrian, then Italian, then Swiss.

01:40:48.086 --> 01:40:49.105
So, it's kind of crazy.

01:40:49.136 --> 01:40:49.466
Fair.

01:40:49.565 --> 01:40:52.155
If you go to Innsbruck right now, Austria, you look in a phone book.

01:40:52.176 --> 01:40:53.155
Well, we don't have many more.

01:40:53.155 --> 01:40:53.456
They say it just like that.

01:40:53.456 --> 01:40:53.966
It's Oste.

01:40:53.966 --> 01:40:55.666
It's, there's a lot of Ostes in Austria.

01:40:55.666 --> 01:40:56.105
Fair enough.

01:40:56.376 --> 01:40:58.810
So, Oste for What did you say?

01:40:58.980 --> 01:40:59.551
Aste.

01:40:59.671 --> 01:41:00.381
Go, vote.

01:41:00.470 --> 01:41:01.440
Vote for Aste.

01:41:01.690 --> 01:41:02.041
com.

01:41:02.240 --> 01:41:02.801
For Aste.

01:41:02.831 --> 01:41:03.220
com.

01:41:03.220 --> 01:41:07.581
And there's push buttons there, there's FAQ, uh, Frequently Asked Questions.

01:41:07.951 --> 01:41:08.511
It's all there.

01:41:08.511 --> 01:41:09.730
It's a very well done website.

01:41:09.730 --> 01:41:12.121
If you want to canvas your neighborhood or anything like that.

01:41:12.121 --> 01:41:14.560
We're walking, but you know, FOCO's got some situation.

01:41:14.600 --> 01:41:22.911
I don't know when this was written up, if it changed from four years ago, but they have rules that if there's a no soliciting sign, then political.

01:41:23.386 --> 01:41:25.895
Uh, Canada drops, shouldn't even be dropped there.

01:41:26.395 --> 01:41:27.355
So it's interesting.

01:41:27.355 --> 01:41:29.765
I don't see that in Loveland and Bertholdt at the moment.

01:41:29.865 --> 01:41:33.195
And I'm not picking on Foco, but we want to be respectful.

01:41:33.426 --> 01:41:39.025
I've had people come out and yell at my woman mama with five kids and swear at them.

01:41:39.025 --> 01:41:40.046
I'm like, that's not cool.

01:41:40.305 --> 01:41:41.506
And that didn't happen this time.

01:41:41.855 --> 01:41:43.836
I'm just saying four years ago.

01:41:44.145 --> 01:41:44.426
Yeah.

01:41:44.525 --> 01:41:45.586
And that wasn't very nice.

01:41:45.586 --> 01:41:45.836
Right.

01:41:45.836 --> 01:41:55.881
I mean, it's just, That took the wind out of their, they were eager to be, to have folks hear their voices and then to be yelled at and sworn at is like, not cool.

01:41:56.070 --> 01:41:56.951
I say not cool.

01:41:56.951 --> 01:41:57.791
That's from my era.

01:41:58.461 --> 01:41:59.780
And people understand that.

01:41:59.820 --> 01:42:00.411
You understand.

01:42:00.451 --> 01:42:01.140
I understand.

01:42:01.190 --> 01:42:01.671
I understand.

01:42:01.780 --> 01:42:02.671
How about Uncle Benny's?

01:42:02.690 --> 01:42:04.610
What's your, how do they find you there?

01:42:04.661 --> 01:42:09.621
If they want to find us, we're temporarily, Bertha, Colorado.

01:42:09.621 --> 01:42:10.650
So our number still works.

01:42:10.650 --> 01:42:11.560
The same old number.

01:42:11.560 --> 01:42:13.930
970 don't show up.

01:42:13.930 --> 01:42:14.480
There's not enough people.

01:42:14.480 --> 01:42:16.640
parking just call and see if they have what you need.

01:42:16.640 --> 01:42:21.320
Call first, call first who we have and then we will announce as soon as possible when we are going to reopen.

01:42:21.320 --> 01:42:24.640
And when we do, we're going to have one heck of a reopening party.

01:42:24.720 --> 01:42:27.921
I'm going to have some local bands, we're going to get, people are going to come down.

01:42:28.280 --> 01:42:28.990
We are going to party.

01:42:29.261 --> 01:42:32.280
Uh, I used to joke about it, but I'm not really joking.

01:42:32.320 --> 01:42:35.001
I'm serious about probably two days minimal.

01:42:36.055 --> 01:42:38.645
Uh, you know, there'll be a pig roast, probably.

01:42:39.345 --> 01:42:39.796
There'll be meat.

01:42:39.966 --> 01:42:40.805
I'm a meat eater, man.

01:42:41.286 --> 01:42:41.735
I'm a meat eater.

01:42:42.286 --> 01:42:46.265
So we'll have, we're going to party because it's time to celebrate the reopening, right?

01:42:46.305 --> 01:42:48.796
It's a grand reopening and we'll have a ribbon cutting.

01:42:48.796 --> 01:42:50.456
Loveland's ready to come in the chamber.

01:42:50.956 --> 01:42:58.076
Um, so please, please invite all your friends and we'll try to, hopefully there's enough parking because we're, we have a serious following.

01:42:58.115 --> 01:42:59.086
And a free single for everyone.

01:42:59.176 --> 01:43:00.015
Every attendee.

01:43:00.065 --> 01:43:00.895
Take a shingle home.

01:43:02.485 --> 01:43:02.996
Just one.

01:43:04.905 --> 01:43:05.525
It's been fun.

01:43:05.525 --> 01:43:06.485
Thanks for being here, Ben.

01:43:06.555 --> 01:43:07.105
Thanks, Kurt.

01:43:07.155 --> 01:43:07.345
All right.

01:43:07.345 --> 01:43:07.645
Godspeed.