00:00:08 Speaker 1: Well, I invited you here, thought I made myself perfectly clear. When you're a guest in my home, you gotta come to me empty, And I said, no, guests. Your presences presents enough, and I already had too much stuff. So how do you dare to surbey me? 00:00:47 Speaker 2: Welcome to I said, no gifts. I'm Bridgard Wineger. You're here to listen to the podcast. What's going on? I think it's September, we're in fall, we're headed towards fall. What are some things you could be thinking about right now? Maybe you could be toying with the idea of your Halloween costume or well, actually, at this point, I think you should probably be in serious planning stages. You've got maybe a month and a half or so to go if you're going to be making it. I mean, you're way behind. So that's just something I want to kind of spark for you, something could think about while you maybe to distract you while you're listening to the rest of this podcast. Now your thoughts are racing. You can't pay attention. That's fine. We're going to have a good time. Everything's okay, and I'm so excited about our guest. She's so wonderful, so funny. Paula Poundstone, Paula, welcome to I said no gifts. 00:01:46 Speaker 3: Well, thank you very much, Bridget, it's so nice to be with you. 00:01:49 Speaker 2: What's on your mind, Paula. 00:01:51 Speaker 3: Oh my heavens, I you know, survival, survival specifically perhaps in the area of mental health. 00:02:04 Speaker 2: Right, it's getting harder and harder. Right, of course, it's getting more and more confusing, and it's hard to count on anything at this point. 00:02:13 Speaker 3: It's an uncertain time, Bridger. 00:02:16 Speaker 2: It's uncertain and then you know, it's a real roller coaster of uncertainty. Felt like we were headed towards something decent and now we're back. I don't know what to say anymore. 00:02:27 Speaker 3: It's hard to figure out what to say anymore. The thing is, for the four or five of us that survive, someday they will have I don't know that it'll be me, but someday there'll be another generation that comes to them and says, like what. I think that's exactly how they'll put what, like what what? Because it's like it's a slow slide. It's like as if we're watching Mount Rushmore melt up. For it's you know, more important. You can no longer count on even two hands how many things of global importance have gone wrong. If it had been put in any kind of a movie or novel, it would they would they would ask for a rewrite, certainly, you know, when you watch like a Batman movie or I don't know, I don't watch a lot of Marvel movies, but the Batman movie is a good example, and there's just so much carnage, and I always think when I'm watching it, I think, well, that's stupid, because you know, they know, and they never seem to rebuild. You know, you have the next day, everything's good enough. How did that happen? And now I'm now we're actually watching how that would happen? 00:03:48 Speaker 2: Right? Yeah? The Batman movies. I feel like the best Batman movies are when there's maybe one or two villains. The worst ones are when they're you know, they've got six different villains that Batman is up against. And I think we're in one of those Batman movies right now. Well, what's I mean? How is your summer in general? 00:04:04 Speaker 1: Ben? 00:04:05 Speaker 2: I feel like we got about two weeks of what seemed to be kind of normal hopefulness and then we're back to I can't something I can no longer describe. 00:04:17 Speaker 3: Did you have two full weeks of normal hopefulness? 00:04:20 Speaker 2: I think so. It felt like there were two weeks where I was like, oh, I might be able to go on a vacation at some point, and then that all went away. 00:04:27 Speaker 3: All right, I have to I did go on a vacation. 00:04:30 Speaker 2: You're kidding where? 00:04:31 Speaker 3: I went to Massachusetts where you used to always go on vacation. I went to Manchester by the Sea, Massachusetts for a week where I spent with the family that I lived with when I was a teenager. I mean now the parents are gone, right, so the kids who are now not only adults, but some of them are grandparents. So it's a big it's a big, big family, many offshoots, and we get together usually for a week. 00:05:01 Speaker 2: Oh that sounds lovely. And what do you do while you're there? 00:05:04 Speaker 3: Well, one thing that I have done traditionally and returned to this year is that at the beach, Singing Beach in Manchester, I swim out to the buie that separates like the boats from the swimming area. It's quite a distance out and I never see anybody else doing it. I always do it, you know, by myself, but I swim out to the Bui twice, and the whole time I'm swimming, I'm hearing the three notes from Jaws. 00:05:36 Speaker 2: Have you ever encountered any sort of large sea creature while you're out there? 00:05:41 Speaker 3: I haven't. But you know what I encountered on Twitter was that picture of a person swimming I think actually it was in southern California and they're swimming along and they have it's unbeknownst to them, a drone camera has taken a picture of like a giant shark. 00:05:58 Speaker 2: Oh you're kidding, not far from them at all. 00:06:02 Speaker 3: And I don't think that shark was I don't think the shark was really aware of the person, or if they were, they didn't care, and certainly the person was not aware of the shark. That combined with Jaws one is enough to. 00:06:20 Speaker 2: Where does Jaws take place? Is that an East coast? Yeah? 00:06:25 Speaker 3: It is. I feel like it's like near Martha's. 00:06:28 Speaker 2: Vineyard or something that makes sense. 00:06:30 Speaker 3: Amityville or Amity. 00:06:32 Speaker 2: Right, just trying to have their summer and suddenly everyone's getting devoured. 00:06:38 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, you have to be so careful. Honestly, I have thought so much about that movie. Recently also because another film that could be a documentary, which is there's that scene where Roy Scheidner takes the mayor. They're in the hospital and Roy Schidner's kid had gone into shock, and now the mayor's there, you know, trying to sort of pretend that he did a good job. And Roy Scheidner like grabs him by the collar, takes out the piece of paper that he needs to sign to close the beaches and says, do it now. And I feel like that, like somebody needed to do that. 00:07:19 Speaker 2: With you know, oh yeah, over and over right. 00:07:22 Speaker 3: And the vaccines and you signed this thing everyone. Yeah, it would have been good. But you know, I don't know where Roy Scheidner is right now, but he's unavailable. Chief Brody, that's who he was, Chief Brody. 00:07:36 Speaker 2: Now are you vaccinated? 00:07:37 Speaker 3: I am beautiful, and you know what, I hate needles. I go a very long ways to avoid, you know, a needle. And I was not helped in any way, by the way, by all of the photos and on the news and on the in the pictures of people getting shots. 00:08:02 Speaker 2: Will they stop showing that, Paula. 00:08:06 Speaker 3: It doesn't tell anybody they should get the shot. You can say that with your words, but the constant image of that for somebody like me, it creates irritable bowel syndrome every time we see it. So and I know there's a lot of people like me out there. So I got the vaccine anyways, despite the fact that I hate needles, because more than my hate of needles, stronger than my hate of needles is my love for people. And that's all to be well. I don't even want the idiot anti vaxxers to get sick. I just just want us all to be well. And the key for anybody else who's like me, and maybe somebody who hasn't yet gone and done it. Hey, of course, go and do it. But b the key is to keep your arm moving, not during the injection, but afterwards, to keep your right that's critical. And then and then ice it. But like when you sit, you know afterwards they want to make sure you're not having a bad reaction, so you just sit like in a waiting area for like ten routes. And while while I was sitting there, I was flapping like a chicken. And then the whole way driving home just flap it. It was my left arm flap. Andy, how the drivers were yelling, just got the vaccination. I said, yup. 00:09:26 Speaker 2: Look even if even if you don't take Paula's little trick, here is what are we talking about? A sore arm for a couple of days, big deal? I felt like the needle of this one really didn't. It was almost nothing too. 00:09:39 Speaker 3: It was such an actually you're right, it wasn't. And I was on like a race against time because I knew that sometimes it comes with sort of fluish symptoms. Right, I haven't heard anybody have it for longer than twenty four hours, but I've certainly heard of people, you know, having kind of a fluishy kind of a night. And so I was doing my chores that day, and I have a lot of animals. I have ten cats and two big dogs and a worm form. So I'm doing my chores and whatever other stuff I have to do for my work and things like that. And I'm, you know, I'm like trying to bang out as much stuff as I can before I just wanted to go to bed early, you know, and pop a couple of advils, slept with some ice. But it was funny. It was like one of those movies where they keep showing the clock, you know, and there's like, you know, something horrible is going to happen with the class. So I was in a race against time. So I did get to bed early and with some ice. 00:10:42 Speaker 2: And that's not all I had. 00:10:43 Speaker 3: It was. I mean, I woke up a couple of times a little bit sore. I got up in the morning, I felt great. 00:10:48 Speaker 2: Look I think I felt a little sleepy, and that's basically my day to day anyway. Yeah, maybe I was ten percent sleepier than usual. No one's going to notice me being ten percent sleepier. And that was it. I mean, I feel like I'm bragging a little bit because I do know people who got a little bit more fluish symptoms, but even they were like, it's not a huge deal, and now I'm protected. 00:11:11 Speaker 3: No, I don't know anybody. In fact, you know the other thing, And this was very much like my reaction to the inauguration. I was really taken aback by the amount of. 00:11:24 Speaker 2: Relief I felt, right, of course. 00:11:28 Speaker 3: And the same thing with the inauguration. I didn't watch I watched parts of the celebration and things, and I found myself just crying. 00:11:38 Speaker 2: And I was really. 00:11:39 Speaker 3: Surprised because it's not like I really find it all that moving. But I think it was just the relief and the same thing with the vaccination, just feeling like, oh, thank goodness, this part is over. But yeah, no, I don't know anybody who felt like any kind of discomfort they had or any problem they had outweighed you know, the. 00:12:04 Speaker 2: Value, right, It's just that the weight lifted. It's a little bit like tunneling out of prison and finally getting you know, to the other side. 00:12:14 Speaker 3: Yeah, I have a bad feeling. I have a friend who says that if she said that Eric Trump when he's in prison seventy millers says he's gonna he's going to tunnel and then just be in like another prison cell. She's just going to tunnel it. Any way, he'll probably end up in like his dad's prison cell, and his dad will bread him for tunneling badly. 00:12:38 Speaker 2: I would not be surprised. Now you said you have ten cats. When you tell me you have ten cats, can you name all of them? Of course I want to hear their names. 00:12:48 Speaker 3: Okay, Now keep in mind that you wouldn't know whether I had named them correctly or not. 00:12:53 Speaker 2: But I will well, I'm going to check into this. I will I'm googling Private investigator as we speak. 00:13:00 Speaker 3: All right, I'll do my best here. Hardy, Severus, Theo, sham Wow, Wednesday, Harrison, Missus, Beezywig, Tonks Lawson, and Nash Wow. 00:13:20 Speaker 2: Incredible. 00:13:20 Speaker 3: Yeah, that was faster than I can usually do it. 00:13:23 Speaker 2: I mean when you got to sham Wow, it sounded like you were just naming things you could see in the room or something. 00:13:28 Speaker 3: But no, no, sham Wow was my only long haired cat. 00:13:32 Speaker 2: Oh that makes sense for a long hair she's absolutely named. 00:13:35 Speaker 3: Yes. 00:13:38 Speaker 2: And what are your two dogs named? 00:13:40 Speaker 3: Uh? It's Serious and. 00:13:43 Speaker 2: Mo Oh these are great names. 00:13:45 Speaker 3: Series is of course named after Serious Black from Harry because kids were raised during the Harry Potter years, which is also what brings us Severus and Tonus. 00:13:57 Speaker 2: Oh, there you go. 00:13:59 Speaker 3: And then my dog Mo is named after Mo Howard from the Three Stooges. 00:14:04 Speaker 2: Beautiful. 00:14:06 Speaker 3: They're very similar. 00:14:09 Speaker 2: So when you're naming pets, is there a whole process you go through or is it is it more of an immediate instinct you have with each animal? 00:14:16 Speaker 1: Oh? 00:14:16 Speaker 3: No, there's a process, a lot of thought, you know, when the kids were little. I have three kids, but they're all young adults now and when they were little, I let them do some naming, and then at a certain point I realized, you know, they're going to be off at college and I'm gonna be stick with Fluffy. So I at a certain point I just took naming back. I would I would suggest some names, and then I would let them choose among them. But I'm like, god, there you go, I'm not. In fact, my daughter calls my cat Shiamah. She calls that cat olive. I hate that name. I would never It's a horrible name. I don't like all of us, So, yeah, it's horrible. 00:14:57 Speaker 2: Do the cats have middle names? 00:14:59 Speaker 3: None? Do none too. But now that you put that idea in my. 00:15:03 Speaker 2: Head, it's time to start going for it. 00:15:06 Speaker 3: I may have to go back to the judge and add the names onto the birth certificate. Yeah. You know. Sometimes what happens is I get a name that's such a great idea that I have to go get a. 00:15:16 Speaker 2: Cat, like like what well, Losson and Nash are, oh beautiful Lawson. 00:15:23 Speaker 3: And Nash, And as it happens, as it happens, my cat Lawson who is they're both kittens. Lawson is a fearless black male cat, and she is named after the Reverend James Lawson, who is a beloved Los Angelean. But he was the man who trained the students that desegregated the lunch counters in Nashville. 00:15:57 Speaker 2: Oh my god, that's incredible. Yeah. 00:15:59 Speaker 3: Yeah, And his story which is very well told in a book called The Children by David Halberstam, which is how I happen to have even known about him to begin with. Although I do think he's on a stamp. I think I can't, No, can't be because he's alive. 00:16:13 Speaker 2: Still, do you have to be dead to be on a stamp? 00:16:16 Speaker 3: I believe so. So if you ever see yourself on a stamp, take your temperature. 00:16:22 Speaker 2: What a way to find out you're a ghost? 00:16:23 Speaker 3: Yeah, wouldn't that be awful? 00:16:27 Speaker 2: Okay? 00:16:27 Speaker 3: I know what he was on. I saw his picture in the library. The library was doing, you know, like a celebration of civil rights leaders, that's what it was. So as a poster in the library, And you didn't have to be dead to be on that. He'll be very relieved anyways, he was. He is a very very fearless man. And this kitten, this kitten will jump on my dog's snout. 00:16:55 Speaker 2: Good for it. And now you have worms as well. 00:16:59 Speaker 3: I have a worm worm uh, you know worm what they call worm castings, which is warm poop. It is they refer to as black gold. 00:17:10 Speaker 4: Uh. 00:17:11 Speaker 3: It is full of microbes and nutrients that boost plant growth. 00:17:19 Speaker 2: Oh right, if you put it on. 00:17:21 Speaker 3: Say like your vegetable, you know, your vegetables, it actually can increase I mean sizeably, like the size of the produce that you that you get. It's really very powerful. 00:17:36 Speaker 2: So you're producing, You've got all these worms pooping somewhere, and then you're throwing this on your vegetables. Is that how this works? 00:17:44 Speaker 3: Well, I actually just started selling it because people that are into well I think that for one thing, plotformers, not that I there are you know, marijuana farmers. 00:18:01 Speaker 1: I don't. 00:18:02 Speaker 3: I actually kind of loathe marijuana. But if they want to pay me for the worm poop. 00:18:07 Speaker 2: I would, So you've become a worm poop sales I. 00:18:11 Speaker 3: Would sink low enough to engage in that kind of business engagement. 00:18:16 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:18:16 Speaker 3: So what you do is they live in a bin and then at a certain point you sift the contents of the bin so that you recover the worms. You don't get rid of the worms to recover the worms. And then, uh, it's such rich. I was just packing somewhat for someone yesterday. Wow, And I mean it's so unbelievably rich, and it was hard for me not to eat some, but I did. 00:18:47 Speaker 2: What A second chapter for paula Poundstone worm poop saleswoman. 00:18:52 Speaker 3: Yeah, I got to say, I kind of you know, during this period, you know, since the stay at home order. I came off the road a year ago mid March, okay, and I've been back out doing some jobs since June. But during that year and a half at home, first of all, I worked my ass off because I didn't have my normal income, and so I had to find little ways to put together some money to stem the tide of loss basically. And so I worked and I worked, and I worked and I worked, and I didn't do anything else really other than walk the dogs and train the dogs. 00:19:38 Speaker 2: That was it. 00:19:40 Speaker 3: No days off, no nothing, just that's great. And so when I started the worm farm, I actually felt like getting out of bed in the morning. I mean I always got out of bed in the morning because I had to, but I can't say that I felt like it. I actually felt like getting out of bed in the morning. Because I'm by these worms. I'm fascinated by how they eat. One of the reasons I started doing it as well is because food waste contributes to our methane gas. It's something like a third of it. 00:20:17 Speaker 2: I'm told, Wow, I'm not a scientist. 00:20:20 Speaker 3: I'm just saying what I heard, and that's a lot. So I also have volunteered at a once a week at a food bank during that year year and a half, and so I would take their food waste and I would put some of it in my regular multipile, and some of it I would chop up and feed to my worms, and then summer and I put in the city yard waist bind. I mean we're talking some weeks like forty gallons of wow. So it's a tremendous amount of chopping. But the idea that these worms are eating the food waste and pooping out black gold that you can grow stuff with, that that's right, right, isn't that? 00:21:06 Speaker 4: Like? 00:21:06 Speaker 3: So I feel like I should be holding up a lion cup. It's so circle of life. 00:21:15 Speaker 2: I feel like you you've kind of earned the right to be one of the last five people surviving. You are the worm Queen Bohy would. 00:21:22 Speaker 3: I not want to be one of the last. 00:21:24 Speaker 2: But you've got this, You've got at least one skill you can present to the planet. 00:21:29 Speaker 3: Well, that's true. 00:21:30 Speaker 2: I could you have your army of worms. I could be very do your bidding. Yeah, this kind of thing. 00:21:35 Speaker 3: Yeah, that's true. I could do that. 00:21:39 Speaker 2: Look, I could talk to you about the worm sciences all day, but there's something else I need to talk to you about. 00:21:45 Speaker 3: Paula, before you go to the I just want to say what worm farming is a lot more challenging than you may realize because the tractors are so small. And Okay, round up day, you know, last seing those squinkly little news not easy? All right, go ahead, go ahead, you switched to whatever topic you need. 00:22:09 Speaker 2: To look Okay, So I'm glad you're giving me permission here because this is something that's a little sensitive and I'm not that comfortable talking about it. But this podcast is called I said no gifts you. Paula Poundstone agreed to be on this podcast a few weeks ago, and I thought, oh, this will be wonderful. Paula is so funny, she's we're going to have a great time together. And then yesterday I believe. I opened my front door and I looked down and there's a little brown box sitting on my porch. And I just about passed away because I looked at the return address and it said it was from Paula pound Stone, and I thought, what's going on here? What is Paula up to? She is going to be on the podcast tomorrow. Has she sent me a gift? And you know, I was glad I had a couple of twenty four hours to cool down. I'm you know, my heart rates steady, my blood pressure is normal. And now I'm just going to ask you, Paula, is this a gift for me? 00:23:10 Speaker 3: It is? You know, I just couldn't come on Bridger without bringing you something. I just, you know, it's. 00:23:18 Speaker 2: A flimsy excuse. 00:23:20 Speaker 3: It's funny because when I have gone to other people's homes for like a dinner party or something like that, and I, you know, all the other guests have brought something I never do. I don't even think about it until I get there, and then I'm like, oh my gosh. You know, sometimes I'll like go into the host's cabinet and pull out like a Potter or pan and say I got you this, and then go I have one like this, I goy it's not yours. Even at my house when people come to my house, which they don't do often, but when they do, you know, I'm always drinking a soda. I always have a water. I eat tons of candy. I love eating chips and cookies. I never think to offer the gifts something. It's not until they're on their way out the door that I usually remember, and then I'm like, oh, did you want? They probably leave because they're starving and thirsty and they keep seeing me scarf stuff, but I'm like, oh, did you I'm thinking of getting like just some to go containers that sit by the door for any time I have a guest, so I could just send them off with a little gift bag. 00:24:30 Speaker 2: That's a great idea. That's a really nice way to avoid giving anything away. When the guests is on their way out, you can just say, could you have used to drink? I think that's enough. Could you have enjoyed a gift card? 00:24:42 Speaker 3: Maybe a little something like, oh, here is a card from starbuck. Yeah, So anyways, so I did get you a gift and it's not even I did. It was really from the heart for your eye, because it's not even like me to think of those kinds of niceties. 00:24:58 Speaker 2: Well, it sounds like you're of all as a person, and I think my podcast is kind of to think. I mean, let's just give me the credit here. 00:25:07 Speaker 3: Credit where credits due? 00:25:08 Speaker 2: Absolutely, thank you. Oh well, now that I've gotten my credit, should I open the gifts? Oh? Go ahead, all right. It's in a little brown box here, it's addressed to me, it's got my address. We won't be saying that on the air, but let me get my scissor and open this up. You know, you're not supposed to cut towards you, but I keep doing that towards me. 00:25:35 Speaker 3: I don't want to hurt anybody else. 00:25:39 Speaker 2: Right, Okay, I'm getting this open. This is good, a good taping job on this box. So this is gonna take me a minute. And I need everyone's patience and everyone's kindness, and I just need everyone to calm down. Okay, we're getting it open. 00:25:55 Speaker 3: Sometimes when I go to Saint John's Hospital the emergency room and I'm gushing blood from somewhere around my waist, They'll say, did you did you open another package towards yourself? And I see yeah, I did. 00:26:10 Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, Paula, I've opened it up here and okay, so it's in a little uh like an earth balance uh it. It's like a butter spread butter container, yeah right right, kind of a vegan butter with a rubber band around it and has. 00:26:33 Speaker 3: Are the gift. I mean, feel free to use them and enjoy them. But neither of those things, the fake butter container nor the rubber band are the gift. 00:26:42 Speaker 2: Okay, I'm going to open it up. It has four holes in the top, so I'm wondering, what's if all fall is this worms? 00:26:50 Speaker 3: No, it's warm waste. I've given you some of the famous pound Stone worm castings. 00:26:59 Speaker 2: This is a by oh hazard. 00:27:01 Speaker 3: I don't know if you do you have Do you have houseplants or plants outside? 00:27:05 Speaker 2: I've got both? 00:27:06 Speaker 3: All right? This is important. Which is they've done, you know, like experiments they found if you're using like a soil mixture with some worm castings, if you use if it's ten percent worm castings, it will improve the growth of your plant. If it's twenty percent worm castings, it will improve the growth of your plant even more substantially. But if it's forty it will negatively effect. 00:27:35 Speaker 2: No, so what have you sent me? 00:27:37 Speaker 3: It's not a mixture that's pure worm waste. 00:27:40 Speaker 2: So I just need to I need to use this sparingly exactly. 00:27:43 Speaker 3: What I was trying to say. Yeah, yeah, just like around the top. Say, I use it on some succulents and and and then when I put it on before I water them, and then that makes when you water that it goes down. 00:28:00 Speaker 2: All right, So what are we talking about for? Like, let's let's narrow this down to like one succulent. Do I want to put like a tea spoon on there? 00:28:09 Speaker 1: Uh? 00:28:10 Speaker 3: Yeah, if it's like a little houseplanty kind right, does the young people enjoy Yes, that'll probably be good. I'm telling you you're gonna grow the audrey too. 00:28:20 Speaker 2: Oh. I would love to grow an audrey too. I'd love to be swallowed whole by a venus fly trap. 00:28:26 Speaker 3: Yeah, it's gonna you're gonna feed it warm waste and then pour some water on it, and it's gonna say thank you. I may Uh this could be the gateway drug for you. 00:28:39 Speaker 2: Oh, I would love a fertilizer gateway drug. I have. My plants are in varying stages of health. I've I've gotten better at taking care of my house plants. My vegetable garden is here and there. You know, it's uh, it's hard to tell, but this I think could really benefit me in a huge way. 00:29:01 Speaker 3: It's going to change your life. I'm telling you, uh, and you know you'll be calling me day and night. Can you get more worm wasted? I can? I can? 00:29:11 Speaker 2: I So when you're selling your worm wasist, how are like, how are people finding you? 00:29:17 Speaker 4: Oh? 00:29:17 Speaker 3: You know what, I've only I just sold my first batch A harvested. 00:29:24 Speaker 2: Approximately two gallons, wow. 00:29:28 Speaker 3: And I advertised it on my own podcast, which is called Nobody Listens to Paula pound Stone. And you know, me and my assistant Wendell, we had talked about, you know, how we were going to put it on the website and how we had to figure out how much per ouncer. It was just so complicated in the in the PayPal and the houdah and the hada, and I'm just like, you know what, I'm not going to do any of that. Here's what I gotta do. So I looked up on the internet. I found out what you know what commercial bags of this cell war I priced comparably so I sold my about two gallons, as I just said on my on my podcast, I said, hey, I have my first starvice of warm waste. It's about two gallons. I'll charge thirty five dollars and whatever the shipping is and if you want to do it right to me at my website. And somebody did and wow. So it was so easy that way, it didn't have to mess around with all this other stuff. I will say that we shipped it off to them, and I can't I'm not certain that we remembered to get payment, but I know we will. 00:30:47 Speaker 2: Well, thirty five dollars is owed to you, well. 00:30:50 Speaker 3: Plus the twenty one ninety four that is shipping because it was going to Connecticut. But keep it in mind, this is my friend pointed out. This is celebrity worm waste. 00:31:03 Speaker 2: Right, high quality regular worm waste. 00:31:07 Speaker 3: And you know what some worms did go into accidentally. They're just the babies are so small that when you go to sift they end up so there might be a worm or tool. 00:31:18 Speaker 2: Oh my hopes. So that sounds like a huge bonus. It's a stone way. Yeah, Now are you branding the worm wasist? Is this pound stone worm waste as well, you. 00:31:28 Speaker 3: Know I was gonna have I was gonna start a company called pollen Poundstone is a poop head, just for. 00:31:34 Speaker 2: The alliteration, right, right, But I'm not sure. 00:31:37 Speaker 3: I even have to go that far, which I mean I will at some point, but these are uncertain times, so I don't know that it's really the time to invest in you know, a lot of packaging and. 00:31:51 Speaker 2: Right yeah, well, I mean the worm waste has now been mentioned on your podcast and now on mine. It feels like the pr is read the pr machine is going this thing we're headed at. We're just months away from the holidays. People are looking for gifts, they're looking for these what am I going to give it? And they look to the Poundstone worm waste and I think that that could be the big hit of the season. 00:32:20 Speaker 3: You know what. I hadn't thought about that, but you're absolutely right. I might have to have you over in my marketing department. 00:32:26 Speaker 2: Look, I'm always looking for new ways to you know, increase these our bank account numbers. I feel like this is the one that's going to show you to the moon. Yeah. 00:32:35 Speaker 3: I'm so bad at marketing that the idea of selling something as a Christmas gift never even occurred to me. So you really you have a gift in this way. 00:32:45 Speaker 2: I mean, look, I've got so many My talents are myriad, and I'm just such a skillful person. So you bring on your worm waste to my podcast. I'm looking for ways to get it to expand the market. 00:32:59 Speaker 3: I live in a teeny little house, but I don't see this. I don't know how I'm going to be able to stay here. 00:33:06 Speaker 2: We'll start packing up. 00:33:07 Speaker 3: Yeah, I have to move to like a worm ranch with a dude. A bunk house. We have to have a bunk house. 00:33:17 Speaker 2: What is a bunk house. I don't know what a bunk house is. 00:33:20 Speaker 3: A bunk house is where the ranch hands stay. 00:33:23 Speaker 2: Oh wow, well that's you learn. If we're learning all sorts of things this episode about it. 00:33:30 Speaker 3: Did you read let's see, what's the one the one George and the John Steinbeck book? 00:33:43 Speaker 2: Uh, Wrath? 00:33:45 Speaker 3: No, not Grapes of. 00:33:46 Speaker 2: Wrath East of Eden. 00:33:47 Speaker 3: No, not that the other one with the two guys who are always dreaming of having a rabbits and they and. 00:33:55 Speaker 2: They work on a ranch rabbit brothers. 00:33:58 Speaker 3: Oh, I don't think it's radit ready. Damn. I have a lot of recovery call problems. I think I've had that problem for a long time. But I have to say that I firmly believe as a result of the stress caused by everything in the last couple of years, not the least of which is COVID, my word recall is. 00:34:19 Speaker 2: Just unbelieve you're telling me my word recall. I mean, it's worrisome. I'm like, what is happening to my brain? How I can't remember? There's got to be something to help improve that, right, Is there some little game I can play on my phone that will help my word recall? 00:34:37 Speaker 3: You know, supposedly there was at one time, I think called Luminosity. I think it was called Yeah, somebody told me about it and I put it on my phone, and it was supposed to be these memory games. It was supposed to sharpen your memory. 00:34:50 Speaker 1: Right. 00:34:52 Speaker 3: I forgot to use it. 00:34:53 Speaker 2: Oh, you're kidding. 00:34:54 Speaker 3: You would think that because a lot of people that I talked to say they are having that problem with word recall and with your memories. You would think that this would put a dent in the game show industry like that. You would really notice the competition lagging. You know that there would be clues like grapes blank and people are just you know, okay rhymes with bath ding ming pass? Is it passed? N Yeah. You would think that it would show up in places like that, but I haven't heard of it. 00:35:28 Speaker 2: Of Mice and men is what it's called. 00:35:30 Speaker 3: Thank you. Did you come up with that on your own or did you google it or something like that. 00:35:35 Speaker 2: I'm not I'm not revealing. I'm not revealing that we have a producer named Donna Lees who has you know, access, I could have also googled it. But look, we all know of mice and men. We just you and I were sitting here, were engaged in this conversation. No one can expect us to know the entire Steinbeck catalog off off the top of our heads. 00:35:58 Speaker 3: I think of mice and Men should be a fairly easy grab. So let me get this straight. Because they at least did it right away, I mean, just no time would buy where you you were really not. You were not flapping like a fish on a duck for very long before she's like, oh, it's a minice man? Is that? Because like if she hadn't done that, when this when the show, like when you're finished recording the show. You were going to be right up in her face like an anti vaxxer, screaming, take off that mask. Why why didn't you tell me of mice and men? 00:36:37 Speaker 2: Why my My relationship with Anali's on Lise and I. It's extremely contentious. They are constantly in my face. I'm constantly in their face, and you know the wheels are going to come off at some point. 00:36:52 Speaker 3: Yeah, oh, I noticed it. 00:36:54 Speaker 2: There's a lot of anger there. There's simmering resentment, a lot of friction. 00:36:59 Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely, definitely, I know. 00:37:03 Speaker 2: And you know eventually it's going to destroy this podcast and probably both of us. 00:37:07 Speaker 3: You guys have probably benefited from not being able to be in a studio. 00:37:11 Speaker 2: Ohh when we get back to the studio, it's going to be a fistfight almost immediately. Yeah, yeah, you know, the violence is just waiting to happen between us. 00:37:20 Speaker 3: Honly has actually been working out following online videos of self defense techniques, and at first I thought it was silly, but now I know that I see you and I hear about the kind of rancor that is facing practically bringing I send no gifts down. 00:37:44 Speaker 2: It's a you know, it's in the trades the you know, rumors are all over the place. People know what's going on, and we've done our best to hide it, but we might as well just put it out there now an Lisa and I are going to destroy each other. Yeah, and that's fine, that's you know, we've seen that happen in podcasts after podcast I'm not unique. Eventually the producer and the host. You know, it ends in violence, and that's fine. Yeah. 00:38:13 Speaker 3: Yeah, Well it's the way of the world. 00:38:15 Speaker 2: Look, I want to play a game with you. Oh do you want to play a game called gift or a curse or a game called Gift Master? And I'll tell you how to We're going to play it once we decide. 00:38:26 Speaker 4: Oh so I just choose based on nothing? Okay, No, not based on nothing, based on two very descriptive, evocative titles. All right, I'll take a gift or a curse. 00:38:37 Speaker 2: Okay. I need a number between one and ten from you. 00:38:41 Speaker 3: I just told you I have word recall problems, and now you're making me wants a plank number between one and how about how about four? No one ever chooses? 00:38:53 Speaker 2: Oh I love it. No one chooses for your people? 00:38:57 Speaker 3: Actually numbers three, seven, That sort of thing, but I'm to go with four. 00:39:01 Speaker 2: Four is an underappreciated number and I like that you chose that. Okay, I have to do some light calculating to get the game pieces we'll be playing with. So right now, I want you to recommend something, promote something, do whatever you want. I'll be right back. You have the microphone. You're stepping away too, I'm stepping away. 00:39:18 Speaker 3: Paula. 00:39:19 Speaker 2: You have got to put on your big worm pants and you do what you want to do. 00:39:28 Speaker 3: Wow, there's a lot of pressure. Well, I will take this moment to recommend to people that they not that they leave your podcast ever, but that with whatever additional time they have, they sample. Nobody listens to Paula Poundstone, which is also very very fun. If it's a matter of exchanging one for the other, simply don't do it. But I do think that you might enjoy Nobody listens to Paula Poundstone. By the way, it's my cat. 00:40:03 Speaker 2: Oh that's wonderful. Your cat has entered the picture. You did a wonderful little promotion there, that was perfect. Yeah, people should go listen to your podcast, and you know, just enjoy the wonderful things Paula has done. For everybody. 00:40:18 Speaker 3: Oh so much. Why did you see the other day? No, no, didn't do anything that day. 00:40:24 Speaker 2: Oh cut it out. 00:40:26 Speaker 3: Okay, wait it was Wednesday. No, no, didn't do anything Wednesday. 00:40:30 Speaker 2: All right, this is how the game work. This is how the game works. I'm going to name three things. You're gonna tell me if there are a gift or a curse, and why there are correct answers. I have to be so clear with you. You can fail this game. You can lose miserably, and then it kind of ruins your evening, and then it'll your ruined evening will bleed into tomorrow, and tomorrow will probably be ruined for you, and then it could, you know, just erode the rest of your life. So just be careful. 00:41:00 Speaker 3: Yeah, wow, I tell you something. As far as things that erode the rest of my life go, it's gonna have some competition. 00:41:11 Speaker 2: Okay. Well, first up, this is a listener's suggestion. Someone named Lizzie has written in and suggested gift or a curse. Chili cookoffs? 00:41:21 Speaker 3: Oh curse? 00:41:24 Speaker 2: And why? 00:41:28 Speaker 3: Oh maybe I changed my mind. Maybe they're a gift. People are happy at a chili cookoff, so I guess that's good. People like it makes somebody. Somebody wins and and they feel good about their chili, and the other people, well, they become bitter. But okay, I'll say it was I'll say it's a. 00:41:48 Speaker 2: Gift, great job. I mean you all you said curse initially, and I thought, wow, Paula is gonna, you know, start off on such a wrong foot. But I have I, of course, think of chili cookoff is a gift. I don't know that I've ever been to a chili cook off, but the general concept to me seems very fun. I love to eat chili. I love to eat, to sample and to I love to judge people. I love to watch people win and lose. It's fun for everyone. I you know, I'm not going to be bringing my own chili to a cookoff, but why not. I think it's a good time. 00:42:25 Speaker 3: I did go to a chili cookoff one time. I was at the Texas State Fair in Dallas, and I was there like covering it for some show, and as part of what I attended, I did attend a chili cook off. I didn't think of that until until just before I reversed my answer, and then I remembered that overall, it was it was a happy experience. 00:42:53 Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel like everybody goes into a chili cook off with a good attitude. I mean, I have no complaints about a chili cook off. I mean maybe once I actually go to one, I'll have a whole list of complaints. 00:43:06 Speaker 3: I do think it's going to give you a lot more data. 00:43:09 Speaker 2: Yeah, I've got to investigate, But good job, you've got one for one so far. Next s up, gift or a curse? Punctuality? 00:43:19 Speaker 3: Oh, gift? 00:43:21 Speaker 2: And why uh. 00:43:25 Speaker 3: Well, because planes don't wait. That's one reason right there. Something I've had to actually articulate to my adult children. Yeah, the plane doesn't wait. I think it's a matter of expectations. Sometimes if you say we'll do it at two o'clock and then you're not doing it at two o'clock, it throws people off. It disappoints people, It creates anxiety. And yeah, this something about dealing with somebody that is punctual that takes off a layer of stress. 00:44:09 Speaker 2: PAULA fantastic, Absolutely wonderful. I'm on the same page. I think punctuality is an absolute gift. May be my only skill being able to be to places on time. The one thing I can say I can do pretty well is be there when I said I'm going to be there, and I when somebody else can do that as well, fantastic. 00:44:33 Speaker 3: It's more and more rare. Oh yeah, which is frustrating a pest. I like to do what I say i'll do, And being on time is sort of like, you know, the low hanging fruit of commit. 00:44:51 Speaker 2: Right, right, It's a little gift you can give the person that you've made this commitment to you show up, you know, showing up it is kind of a power move. Or you know, being ten to fifteen minutes late. I think we need to reverse it. How about being on time is the power move? Look, I'm a considerate person, absolutely. 00:45:12 Speaker 3: I actually go to a VET that doesn't make appointments. What yeah, and see you end up? You know, you sit in the waiting room, or when you could sit in the waiting room. Now you can't even go in, right, but when you did, you know, when you could you sit in the waiting room maybe for you know, however, if you go in a busy time, too bad for you. It's a busy time and you wait. But when I went to vets that had appointments, they were always late, and so you just were kind of annoyed by the time you got in. You know, So this thing where you don't even they don't even say they do, they don't promise a certain time. I kind of like that. 00:45:57 Speaker 2: You just show up with your animal and hope that they can see you. Yeah, that seems like chaos to me. 00:46:03 Speaker 3: No, it really isn't. You know. There might be I don't know, there might be four or five other people in front of you or whatever. And then there's times where I've gone in and I was the only person there. 00:46:16 Speaker 2: Wow, that's fascinating. 00:46:18 Speaker 3: Yeah, it kind of. I mean I never studied up to figure out what are the what are the heavy traffic times, and what are the low traffic times. I really don't know. But I don't think I ever waited any longer with no appointment than I did with an appointment. 00:46:36 Speaker 2: Wow. 00:46:37 Speaker 3: I think doctors should do the same thing. Doctors drive me crazy not coming in. You know, they do that thing where a nurse comes out watching the examining room and they tell you to put on some gown, which is totally unnecessary. But basically what it does is it makes you too self conscious to complain. Now they leave you sitting there for forty five minutes and nobody wants to hold the flaps together in the back and walk down the hall and say what are you doing? And then they sasha in like you know, oh what are you doing here? Like it's silly? So uh yeah, I'm very into this punctuality thing. 00:47:23 Speaker 2: Fantastic. Okay, so you're getting two out of two so far, very good this. Uh let's see what how you handle this third one. Another listener's suggestion, someone named n J. The letters n J has written in and suggested. And I'm probably gonna have to explain this because I had to look this up. Press and seal rap which is kind of like saran wrap or plastic rap. I guess it kind of takes the place of plastic bags. It's like a plastic that you has essentially edible glue on it that you can kind of wrap around food and it kind of sticks to the food rather than putting it in a bag. Does that make sense still? I mean, even as I explain it to you, it does not make that much sense to me. 00:48:09 Speaker 3: You actually can seal it because the thing with saranne wrapped is that or it's something of that nature. Not apparently this press and seal thing. But the thing with saran wrap is you can easily get it to stick to itself unless you wrap it around food. 00:48:24 Speaker 2: Right, So what are your thoughts there? Do you think it's a gift or a curse? Well, this press and seal. 00:48:32 Speaker 3: If it's biodegradable, then it's a gift, right, But if it's more plastic coming into our world, then I think we still need to find another. 00:48:46 Speaker 2: Solution, right, And I mean, from what I can imagine, it's probably not biodegradable. Hard to say, but I'm just going to say, do we re the what problem could this possibly be solving? And you haven't answered, but you do need to say gift or a curse? 00:49:06 Speaker 3: Well, I would say curse. Then I would say curse. I mean, I use I reuse zip block bags, And you're right, there's nothing that this could do that a zip block bag couldn't couldn't do, and with a zip hop bag, I can reuse it. Right. 00:49:22 Speaker 2: Yeah, this seems like something that's truly a one and done type situation. Paula, you got I mean, I think you're the third person on this podcast to win the game. You got three out of three Wow. 00:49:33 Speaker 3: Well, you know what, that just goes to show preparation, preparation, night studying, whether things were gifts are curses all my long. I mean, if I seem a little spacey to you, that's why all. 00:49:48 Speaker 1: I don't. 00:49:51 Speaker 2: You did it? I think the cling, whatever the hell we're talking about the press and seal wrap, I don't. I'm not buying that. I'm not sticking that to my food. I don't need another plastic thing floating around my house. I've got those, you know. Let's reuse our ziploc bags or get some other reusable thing. 00:50:11 Speaker 3: Well you'll notice that, uh, your gift, the worm castings, I send it in. 00:50:18 Speaker 2: Uh, it's a perfect reusable container exactly. 00:50:21 Speaker 3: I my plastic containers that they come from other products to use in the you know, to use for my worm castings, because I don't want to have have manufactured more plastic containers. So hopefully it'll get a few more uses. 00:50:46 Speaker 2: Beautiful. Well, look, it's time to answer some listener questions. This is called I said no emails people write into I said no gifts at gmail dot com. Look, I mean, all I can say is that there are people out there that need a lot of help. They need my help in particular, and now they need your help. Would you help me answer a question? 00:51:07 Speaker 3: Absolutely so, despite the fact that you specifically said no email. 00:51:11 Speaker 2: No one respects anything any of my wishes. My life is just a living hell, you know, to just one day have someone follow a rule or a suggestion or what you know, stay within a boundary I create. I don't even know what I would do with myself at that point. You know, it's beyond a dream for me for someone to respect my wishes. So I'm just living in this reality that I've kind of created. And what can you say. Let's look at this thing, it says Bridger and esteemed guests. So that's a nice little compliment for you right off the top. 00:51:49 Speaker 3: Yeah, very much. 00:51:50 Speaker 2: So. 00:51:50 Speaker 3: They didn't know it was going to be me, but. 00:51:53 Speaker 2: I'll take it anyways, Well, who knows this person could be, you know, have some little mirror into the future. They're able to peer into the future and see who my guests are going to be. Maybe they've got maybe they're in touch with our booker. You never know. There's leaks. This podcast has leakers everywhere. I'm sure on Aalisea's leaking information all the time, so they could have known that we're coming up. Okay, so it says Bridger and esteemed guest, my boyfriend of eight plus years and I are done. So uh oh. He's making a move to the East Coast and I'm staying in the home we bought ooh and share, which is approximately three thousand miles away from his new home. He's taking all of his stuff most of the house, including pans, knives, clothes, and furniture, and should be moving on from Utah to Virginia in about two months. I would like to get him a gift that says, I'm not sorry I met you. I'm not sorry I will not see you. What let me read this one again. I'm not sorry I met you. I'm not sorry I will not see you again. 00:53:00 Speaker 3: See So, she's kind sorry she met him, but on the other hand, not upset about never seeing right. 00:53:08 Speaker 2: Interesting, So about him he loves cooking, hiking, mushroom hunting, ice cream, and pornography. Okay, about us, we have no kids, a cat, and mostly just stare at the TV together. What's an appropriate gift to celebrate eight years when my last boyfriend and I broke up. I drew him a comic book of our relationship. Thank you, Betty. This is an interesting this is the question has gone directions I could not have possibly imagined. This is a real weird gift giving situation for Betty and her now ex who's moved across the country with what seems to be all of their pans, knives, clothes, and furniture. 00:53:47 Speaker 3: Yeah, it never occurred to me because I don't have relationships. It never occurred to me that it was appropriate to give a breaking up gift. 00:54:00 Speaker 2: Right, I mean I do. I guess we've kind of as a society, moved into or at least some people have moved into a new world of these breakups that are a little bit not as dramatic, not as anger related. You know, maybe they just things that come to a close. And now he's off to Virginia with all of their stuff, and so she wants to give him something. I mean, it sounds like he's taking everything, and I mean, maybe he should be giving her something. 00:54:36 Speaker 3: You know, I may I may be coming from a place of bias when I say this, but warm castings make a wonderful breakup gift, and you know, he may want to grow some plants in Virginia and you know, and then still be able to remember in a positive w the girlfriend just right, strength of the growth from the plant. I whatever. Again, I don't think I have clean hands in this. 00:55:11 Speaker 2: But that's not a bad idea. Look, I mean, she could give him just a bunch of worm wasist, and I like, you know, at the end of the relationship, I feel like there's a little bit of unhappiness here that towards him. She gives him maybe seventy pounds of worm waste, he suddenly has to deal with getting that across the country. 00:55:31 Speaker 3: I had something to remember her by. 00:55:34 Speaker 2: Look, they've got a cat. I hope she's holding onto the cat. Maybe you get a painting of the cat to send. 00:55:40 Speaker 3: Oh yeah, yeah, you could do that. 00:55:43 Speaker 2: But also, Betty, it's been eight years. What do you I don't know. It seems like I don't know. I really I don't know what to tell you. He's to me, you should not be getting If somebody takes all of my knives and pans, they're not getting another thing out of me. 00:56:03 Speaker 3: Well, Betty, did mention a George pornography? 00:56:07 Speaker 2: Yeah? 00:56:08 Speaker 3: You know, maybe one last little film. You know, not my place to say Betty. 00:56:14 Speaker 2: But yeah, I mean, yeah, I mean if the if pornography is on the table, Betty, you've got your answer. Just some sort of video content, maybe a nice a nice goodbye. 00:56:32 Speaker 3: Or even just like you know how you have Okay, And the people at Wait Wait Don't tell me one time gave me this little plastic button that you push, and when you push the button, there's a recording on it, and in fact, it's a recording of Peter Segel, who's the host on the radio show Wait Weit Don't tell Me. It's a recording of Peter Sagal doing a turkey gobble, which made me laughed so hard when I heard him do it. And so they made me this little recording. You push, it goes whats right, So maybe Betty just get one of those little devices and record some heavy breathing. 00:57:17 Speaker 2: Ah, not a bad idea, you know it's there, you. 00:57:23 Speaker 3: Go, Yeah, I mean it's you know, it's the bow of a tree, not the whole. 00:57:28 Speaker 2: Tree, right, you don't want to give the whole tree the little button. He can take that to the office with him. He's got that on the airplane on the way to Virginia. It's the perfect gift. We should all have one of these buttons. And uh so, Betty, you've got your answer and move on from the relationship. Everything's going to be fine, Paula. We did an excellent job. We gave Betty all of these suggestions. You won the game. You've kind of you know, this is really You've done it all here. You've launched a worm business. 00:58:04 Speaker 3: I feel like the Grand Marshal of the of the I said no gifts parade. 00:58:13 Speaker 2: I think it's time we have and I said no gifts parade. I need to start figuring out how to produce that next so everyone look forward to that. Well, Paula, thank you so much. I'm excited to get my plants moving here with this worm wasist. I mean, I hope that I don't kill I mean, if I destroy all my plants, you're going to be hearing from me. Yeah. 00:58:34 Speaker 3: Well again, not more than twenty percent. 00:58:37 Speaker 2: Not more than twenty percent, okay, right right, okay, I'm going to do that. I've had a wonderful time with you here. 00:58:44 Speaker 3: It's been so nice talking with you. And sorry I sent a gift, by the way, I know you said no gifts. 00:58:51 Speaker 2: I just I just quid it's nice to hear an apology at the end of the podcast and listener, this is the end of the podcast. Just a reminder that you can listen to this podcast on Apples, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm glad you were able to be here. Hopefully you'll tune in next week. Maybe we can continue this relationship as the host and listener. Maybe not. It's really up to you. I just put this out there and you get to do your own thing, and the relationship feels a little lopsided in that way. I'm just going to say it, But what am I going to do? Have a wonderful day, goodbye. I said No Gifts is an exactly right production. It's produced and engineered by our dear friend Analysea Nelson, and the theme song is by miracle worker Amy Mann. You must follow the show on Instagram at I Said No Gifts. That's where you're going to see pictures of all these wonderful gifts I'm getting. You have to see this Gifts Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you found me, and why not leave a review while you're there. It's really the least you could do considering everything I do for you. And if you're interested in advertising on the show, go to mideral dot com slash ads. 01:00:21 Speaker 1: And I invited you hear gonna man myself perfectly clear. When you're a guest to my home, you gotta come to me empty, And I said, no guests, your presences presents enough. I'm already too much stuff. So how do you dare to surbey me?