00:00:08 Speaker 1: But I invited you here, thought I made myself perfectly clear. 00:00:17 Speaker 2: But you're a guest in my home. 00:00:21 Speaker 1: You gotta come to me empty, And I said, no, guests, your own presences presents enough. I already had too much stuff, So how did you dare to surbey me? 00:00:48 Speaker 3: Welcome to I said, no gift. I'm Brichard Wineger. 00:00:53 Speaker 2: Here we are. I hope you're doing okay. Uh. 00:00:58 Speaker 3: The thing that's happening for me today as I was driving back into the neighborhood and realized I hadn't taken the trash out. All of my neighbors have taken the trash out. So there's a little bit of envy there. You're watching my life spin further and further out of control. Here's something. If you're trying to find parking right now and you're having a difficult time, I'm just going to release you. I'm going to say, stop looking, move to another location, do something else with your day today. It's your day to not have to worry about parking. I'm letting you go drive out of the lot and reclaim your life. And with that, I think we should get into the podcast. I really adore today's guest. I think she's so funny. I'm so excited to have her. It's Nicole Buyer, Nicole, welcome to I said. 00:01:45 Speaker 2: No gifts. 00:01:46 Speaker 4: Hi, Hi, Hi, how are you? 00:01:47 Speaker 2: Oh? 00:01:48 Speaker 3: I'm all over the place the last couple of weeks, I have just been here and there, all over the place. I was just telling on aalise that my morning just halfway through, randomly, I was gardening, and then I was forgetting to take the trash out. I cleaned my dishwasher filter. 00:02:07 Speaker 2: Oh, the News told me to do it. I did it. 00:02:10 Speaker 4: Was it gross? 00:02:11 Speaker 3: It was a little gross. It was not as gross as I expected. 00:02:14 Speaker 2: So I pulled mine out a couple weeks ago because Instagram told me too, and it didn't seem to need washing. I do have a nice lady who does She's my cleaning lady comes once a week. I think maybe she cleans it and that's why it wasn't gross. 00:02:30 Speaker 3: I just got the feeling that unless you're like truly throwing a full stew into the dishwasher and hitting go, I don't think that they catch that much stuff. 00:02:39 Speaker 2: I could be wrong, I think so either. I usually like scrape and rintse before I put it. 00:02:44 Speaker 3: In, right, I like there's very little food left on the dishes or in the cups before it's going through the wash. Maybe some people, you know, I don't want to judge anyone. Some people might be going full bore with just you know, pies, stews whatever on their dishes. But for me, I looked in there, it didn't smell. 00:03:04 Speaker 2: No. 00:03:04 Speaker 3: Now I'm just bragging, and it had probably been two years since i'd been cleaned. 00:03:10 Speaker 2: Two years. 00:03:11 Speaker 3: Two years. 00:03:12 Speaker 2: Well, I mean, if you don't know you're supposed to clean it, then how are you supposed to know to clean it? So exactly? I think that's okay. You were talking about trash earlier. Oh yes, yes, And can I just tell you about my trash time today? 00:03:25 Speaker 3: I would love to hear about your trash time. 00:03:27 Speaker 2: So last night I ordered delivery because I didn't feel like cooking anything and I'd cooked like all week, and I was like, I deserve to not cook. And then I didn't eat it all. But it wasn't like the healthiest, so I was like, I'm gonna just throw it away. I ate half of it whatever, and I threw it away. And I thought I put it in like a like not a sealed like. It was in a garbage bag. But then I think raccoons got into it because they ate through the bag and remnants of the bag were everywhere, the food fully gone. And now I'm like, do I have to watch my cameras to like see if it was a raccoon just like feasting on my leftover Chinese food? 00:04:05 Speaker 3: But they managed no question, no question, that was raccoons. I mean, or possums, But I'm my money's on raccoons. 00:04:12 Speaker 2: I feel like I gotta watch it because it's probably so cute. It's adorable food little hands. 00:04:21 Speaker 3: My aunt had a small dog that lived indoors. They would put the food out for it, and the food started mysteriously disappearing every night, and after like a week of this going on, they thought, oh, why don't we check the camera. A raccoon was squeezing through the dog door every night and going over and taking the food. It could have ripped the dog to pieces, but I was just there for a dinner. 00:04:48 Speaker 2: That is pretty wild to just be like, there's a raccoon in my house. It doesn't go anywhere, It just takes food and leaves. 00:04:56 Speaker 4: That's wild. Raccoons are wild. 00:04:59 Speaker 3: They're wild with the Also, I love that they kind of stick to their thing, like the burglary thing. They're only working at night. They're taking just what they need, nothing more, nothing, and it almost confronted. They're minding their own business. 00:05:13 Speaker 2: Mm hmm. I watched a video on Instagram I love Instagram where a lady feder raccoon eggs and it ate a bowl of eggs and it was the cutest thing I've ever seen in my whole life. It was scrambled eggs. 00:05:25 Speaker 3: Oh I was picturing just raw eggs. 00:05:28 Speaker 2: Oh no, No. She cooked up some scrambled eggs for this raccoon and he came to the window. She was like, you come on, come over here, and then directed him to the window sill where she had plays cat food, eggs and something else. And it ate some cat food, tasted the eggs and it was like, eggs are where it's at. And it devoured a bowl of eggs and I thought it was so fucking cute. See. 00:05:48 Speaker 3: I love a raccoon eating things, but I get nervous when they start eating animal products or meat. 00:05:55 Speaker 2: I need a raccoon to be vegan. 00:05:57 Speaker 3: Yeah, I needed to just eat vegetables because the like the idea that it likes the taste of flesh begins to scare me a little bit. 00:06:06 Speaker 2: Yeah, they do have those little hands a grabby and rip you apart. 00:06:11 Speaker 3: Have you noticed this on raccoon Instagram that it feels like an enormous amount of raccoon pets are happening in Eastern Europe? 00:06:20 Speaker 4: Have you noticed, though I haven't seen that. 00:06:22 Speaker 2: I don't know what's driving it. 00:06:24 Speaker 3: Like Eastern Europe Russia, I feel like that's where a large part of these kind of exotic pets are happening. 00:06:32 Speaker 2: I like that you're calling a raccoon an exotic pet. 00:06:36 Speaker 3: It's in the same category as a tiger, a lion. 00:06:40 Speaker 4: A mere cat, a raccoon. 00:06:44 Speaker 3: It is a weird category because it's not quite a cat or dog. But it isn't a giraffe. It's not an exciting Yeah, what do when you turn it into a pet? I guess it's a It's just something it probably shouldn't be in your home. 00:06:57 Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't think they're meant to be in your house. I just love their little hands speaking up stuff, bringing. 00:07:04 Speaker 3: Me things like have you seen the video of the beaver pet? Somebody has a beaver and it like it takes things. It's like running around the house grabbing things to create a dam. 00:07:13 Speaker 2: Yes, and it's so cute, but also like take it home. It wants to go home. It's making a dam in your house. This animal wants to be back where it belongs. 00:07:25 Speaker 3: It is screaming to be at a lake or some body of water, and their house must be destroyed. Those things chew non stop. Yes, and you don't train it. 00:07:35 Speaker 2: And I don't know how you would. It doesn't stop making dams all over the house. I was looking into getting a pet duck because I love ducks. But ducks just shit everywhere. They just walk around shitting everywhere. 00:07:47 Speaker 3: What When I was a kid, we had ducks, and that's exactly the experience. It's kind of cute. It gets bigger and bigger very quickly, and then it's just non stop shit all over your yard. 00:07:58 Speaker 2: Duck shit everywhere. I can't do that. 00:08:01 Speaker 4: I don't really have a yard, you know, so just be. 00:08:06 Speaker 2: No. And then I'm like, do I put a. 00:08:07 Speaker 4: Diaper on a duck? I don't like a duck will like a diaper. 00:08:11 Speaker 2: The duck will get mad at me and be like put me back outside. 00:08:15 Speaker 3: I would actually support a duck in a diaper. I think that's a very cute visual. It is any pets I do. 00:08:23 Speaker 2: I have a dog named Clyde who's sleeping. You can't really see him. Kin see Clyde. Oh he's very fox. 00:08:34 Speaker 4: Yeah, he looks like a little fox. 00:08:36 Speaker 2: He's part Pomeranian, part Schihuahua, part dox in and then terrier. Maybe. I don't know. I had one of those little doggy DNA tests and he is. He's so fucking cute, and he's really smart. And he's got stinky breath? Does he? 00:08:53 Speaker 3: I don't see any doxon in him? 00:08:55 Speaker 2: Is he long? 00:08:56 Speaker 3: I can't quite tell? 00:08:57 Speaker 2: Oh? Wait, no, sorry, mini pincher not. 00:09:00 Speaker 3: Oh okay, yeah, I was thinking that's a very short docs and we're looking at yeah. 00:09:04 Speaker 2: No, no, no, I got it. I got it wrong. Fucked Well. How have you been in general? What's been going on? How have I been in general? Pretty good? 00:09:16 Speaker 4: Can't complain. 00:09:18 Speaker 2: I feel overwhelmed sometimes, but that's okay. 00:09:24 Speaker 4: Yeah, life is good. How are you? 00:09:27 Speaker 2: I'm good? 00:09:27 Speaker 3: I'm just realizing asking you this. I was remembering the period during the pandemic when you ask someone how they're doing, they'd say, oh, well, everything else aside or there's always this qualifier that was so annoying. 00:09:40 Speaker 2: It's like, yes, I don't need that remindal going through it. 00:09:45 Speaker 3: I'm so glad that's we've left that little bit of it behind. 00:09:49 Speaker 2: I think. 00:09:49 Speaker 3: I but I'm fine. I you know, I'm floating around life. I've been complaining on this podcast NonStop about my back office flooding. 00:09:58 Speaker 2: Oh no, I'm so sorry. 00:10:00 Speaker 3: God bless God, bless us all. Yeah, it flooded. 00:10:04 Speaker 4: The flood well. 00:10:06 Speaker 3: Last year, it flooded in a horrible way. This year we were kind of on top of it. Look, I mean, I've made so many mistakes. Last year, we agreed to have the person told us, let us just waterproof the house. That'll fix it. It didn't fix it at all. So this time we were in the back. I was wet, backing NonStop for days. It's now dry. We're trying to look for a solution. I have had a parade, a parade of straight men come through this home to try to diagnose the problem. They've all failed. 00:10:39 Speaker 2: It's a back house in back of your like in the back of your house. 00:10:43 Speaker 3: It's an attached back house. 00:10:44 Speaker 4: Yes, and it attached back house. 00:10:47 Speaker 3: If that makes any sense at all. It's like a separate unit. 00:10:51 Speaker 2: Doesn't so, Okay, it's on the same lot, but it's not attached to the main house. But it is. 00:11:00 Speaker 4: Okay, I think I get it. 00:11:02 Speaker 3: It's like, basically, if we wanted to rent it as an apartment, the person could live there individually, but they would still be connected to our house. 00:11:09 Speaker 2: If that makes sense. Okay, I do believe that makes sense. You had a new roof put on it. 00:11:15 Speaker 3: No, the roof was new when we bought it. 00:11:17 Speaker 2: Then where's the leak coming from? 00:11:20 Speaker 3: That's anyone's guess at this point. I mean you you could diagnose it from here and it would be just as valuable as everybody else that's looked at. 00:11:27 Speaker 2: It could be the ground, Okay, I'll ask another question. Was this permitted? 00:11:32 Speaker 3: Oh, that's a great question, because. 00:11:34 Speaker 2: If it was permitted, that means that the plans were submitted to the city, so you could get the plans and look at the plans, oh and understand the architecture and what was done. Right. If this was unpermitted, it literally could be anything. It could be your foundation, It could be the way they put up the dry wall. It could be your roof. They could have said, it's a new roof, but the room could have been done incorrectly, meaning you need a new roof. 00:12:03 Speaker 4: Does it have Spanish tiles or anything? 00:12:05 Speaker 3: Just around the edge, so it's not the The rest of the roof is roof tiles? 00:12:11 Speaker 2: Okay? Yes? 00:12:13 Speaker 4: So is there any vegetation on the roof? 00:12:16 Speaker 2: No? Okay, So that sounds so maybe it's not your roof. It might be the foundation is wrong. If it's the foundation and it's. 00:12:24 Speaker 4: Seeping in through the ground, are the walls wet? 00:12:28 Speaker 2: Sort of? 00:12:29 Speaker 3: That's now that's the real mystery. I've bought my moisture meter. I'm all over the place. There are some parts that are like above the foundation that are wet, but it's also there's like a kind of a middle ground that's not wet. 00:12:43 Speaker 4: Is it wet at at the ceiling a little bit? 00:12:46 Speaker 3: So that's where we're thinking, well, maybe it is the roof, but we tarped the entire roof. 00:12:50 Speaker 2: If it's wetter at the ground, it is your foundation. 00:12:53 Speaker 3: What do I do If it's the foundation? Do I just move back home? 00:12:57 Speaker 2: You have to move back home. You you can't salvage, you have to get out. Just call it. I think is you're going to have to rip out the floor because the water is coming up through your sub floor. I believe this is me truly with like I've never seen it your. 00:13:13 Speaker 3: Level of expertise here. By not hitting you could be charging a large amount of money and Los Angeles would pay you well. 00:13:21 Speaker 2: I because I had a week in my office and it ended up being the roof because there was vegetation on the roof displacing the tiles, coming through the tiles. There was no water at the at the like at the floor. It was the only like wetness at the floor was from where like it dripped heavily. So if you're very wet at the floor, it means water's coming up, and it means that maybe there isn't enough room between the foundation and your sub floor and then your flooring. So or they maybe did it unpermitted because the ground wasn't good. I don't know. 00:13:55 Speaker 4: I don't I'm not sure. 00:13:57 Speaker 2: But if it was permitted, you can get the plans from this that I do. 00:14:00 Speaker 3: Now I am sweating. This has just opened up a whole new realm of fear for me. 00:14:07 Speaker 2: No nobody has said this to you. Now you can get plans from the city. 00:14:11 Speaker 3: No, that certainly has not been a part of any of these conversations so far. 00:14:14 Speaker 2: That's insane, because that's what when you permit something. You get the permit because you to submit plans, and then the city goes these plans work with our uh what is it code? These are up to code. You can go ahead, we approve this, and then you could go ahead and do it. This is nuts that nobody's nobody, but it might not be as expensive as you're thinking it's gonna be. 00:14:42 Speaker 3: I mean, pray for me. I'll pray everyone quietly pray for me until this is fixed. That's all I ask. Is just a non stop, quiet prayer for Bridger. That's uh. I mean, do you know what's interesting, Nicole is this is the first time we've met. But when I was getting this house, our mutual friend Langan yes, was texting with you, and you were advising me on this. So you actually are kind of to blame for this entire situation. You got me into this home with a problem. 00:15:13 Speaker 2: I'm so sorry. Well, that's the interesting thing about unpermitted square footage. So like I knew my back house wasn't permitted, so I knew that when I was doing things to it that like, if I opened up things, I'd find other things wrong with it. But luckily my sub floor they raised it a little bit, so there is no flooding, which is great, but it's too close to the back wall of the house behind me, so there is a little bit of a drainage problem. So then we had to add a drain It's a whole thing. Owning a home is very similar to my situation. It does. I think that's why I know a little bit. I just become your contractor. I was like, all right, guys, we'll open it up. Let's fucking do it. 00:15:54 Speaker 3: I trust you more than I'm not kidding. Everyone that I've spoken to I feel like is a call. I mean, I think that when it rains it hard in Los Angeles, these people just pop up and start giving advice, and none of them are any good. 00:16:08 Speaker 2: It's no there are a lot of And it might also be the drainage pipes, because god, I can't remember. I think it's copper pipes were used a long time ago. Those aren't up to cote anymore. Copper pipes rust over, cracks happen, and then leaks happen. So if they're not talking about a drainage pipe as well, that's you're not talking to the right people. 00:16:34 Speaker 3: Los Angeles. I will say there is no city on the planet with less foresight than Los Angeles. The amount of things that could have been fixed a long time ago. 00:16:44 Speaker 4: The thing here is built for rain or anything. 00:16:47 Speaker 3: So many obvious problems that just continue to be ignored and just like, oh, we'll fix that at some point, and then it just gets bigger. The problems get bigger and bigger. I mean, bless the city. There are so many wonderful things. But it could be Utopia. 00:17:02 Speaker 2: It could be It's just it's not. I can't believe I've said. I am not a licensed contractor. I've never really worked on a house. I watch a lot of HG television and I did, like I when my contractor tells me things, I then go and research it to make sure that he is not overbidding me or telling me something I don't need or whatever. And there's like a YouTube channel of this man I can't remember, but he'll like tell you things that he's like I think he didn't have children or he wanted children. I don't know, but he'll like give you advice, like advice that a dad would give a kid, and then he does things like here's how you fix a sink, you don't have to call a plumber. Here's how you change a tire, you don't have to call somebody. I wish I could remember who he is, but he also has some like hot housing tips that I've watched. 00:17:48 Speaker 3: I need to know who that is because I could use almost all advice at this point. Yeah, that's and you like you really are. You're speaking like an expert. It's amazing. 00:17:59 Speaker 2: I mean, take it the grain of salt. But I do believe if the roof isn't wet and there's no moisture and there's no mold up there, I really think it's coming from the ground, Okay, And I think it might be un permit, I really do. And I think that I don't know that the drainage underneath is incorrect or whatever. 00:18:18 Speaker 3: You've got to set me up with your contractor. 00:18:20 Speaker 2: I will give you his information. I really do like him. 00:18:22 Speaker 4: He's very very nice. 00:18:24 Speaker 3: Okay, listener, I know you've loved this. Once I get a hold of this contract, I'm willing to recommend him to you. This is kind of the Contracting Podcast. At this point, we're all going to get our homes fixed. We all deserve to fix it. 00:18:41 Speaker 2: Can I ask you a question because I also watch a lot of like home renovation stuff on Instagram. 00:18:47 Speaker 4: Do you like that stuff? Are you an h TV person? 00:18:50 Speaker 2: Okay? Do you like restored things or do you like ripping it out and starting anew? 00:18:58 Speaker 3: I like a restored I like to see, Okay, what can be done with what currently exists? What it feels more like a creative project. You're into that as well. 00:19:08 Speaker 2: I cannot stand modern architecture. 00:19:13 Speaker 4: I think it's very homogeneous. 00:19:15 Speaker 2: That's when everything is the same, right, yes, yes, it all looks so similar. And I subway tile is now builder grade, so stop putting it in your homes. H do do anything special? Have a personality? I just I don't get it. And then the big Spanish tiles, they're just like blue and white or black and white. Why are we doing that? 00:19:37 Speaker 4: There's actual beautiful. 00:19:39 Speaker 2: Spanish tile that you can get that's colorful, and I just I'm so I get so sad when people renovate homes and it's just like white and gray or. 00:19:47 Speaker 3: Well it's because of chip and Joanna Gaines they should go straight to jail. 00:19:51 Speaker 2: Ship lap is terrible. The barn door is awful. Straight to jail, send them away. 00:19:57 Speaker 3: Painting brick why, let me ask you this is and I think we're kind of putting this in our past architecturally at this point. But the shower without any door, what are you doing on that? 00:20:11 Speaker 2: Now? 00:20:12 Speaker 4: Let me close myself in. 00:20:14 Speaker 2: I don't want water everywhere, and even if it doesn't go everywhere, I don't feel safe. 00:20:22 Speaker 3: I need to feel safe in my shower. I'm naked and wet. 00:20:25 Speaker 4: Yes, oh my god. 00:20:27 Speaker 2: And I am obsessed with art deco bathrooms, like those colorful, very very La art deco bathrooms. And I found an Instagram account where they just post them and they're just so beautiful. And whenever I see someone renovating one, I'm. 00:20:42 Speaker 4: Like, why, why, why are you really? It's pretty? 00:20:47 Speaker 3: That happens a lot in La And they just paint a white and then put in that gray fake wood and it looks like a vape shop. 00:20:54 Speaker 2: Yes, I hate that gray wood, that fucking gray lamb in it. It makes me so angry. 00:21:00 Speaker 3: Oh oh, we all deserve than that. The yes, the industry is just forcing it on us. The building industry is saying this is what you get. 00:21:09 Speaker 2: And I think we can understand why I love wallpaper. 00:21:13 Speaker 4: I love color. 00:21:15 Speaker 2: I mean, my aesthetic is very different than other people. My aesthetic is like very nauseating. 00:21:21 Speaker 4: I love. 00:21:23 Speaker 2: Colors and patterns and all that shit. 00:21:25 Speaker 3: I feel like, why not if you have a choice between nothing and something fun, why wouldn't you do this fun thing? I mean, you've got a very fun pattern behind you. 00:21:35 Speaker 2: Like I put up this peel and stick wallpaper myself. You did that yourself. 00:21:39 Speaker 4: It took sixteen hours and hour five. 00:21:43 Speaker 2: I was like, I could have hired someone to do this, but I did it. So every time I look at it, I'm very happy because I'm like, I did it, and I put up wallpaper on the other side. 00:21:52 Speaker 4: That's oh, it's so poorly done. 00:21:54 Speaker 2: I gave up. 00:21:56 Speaker 4: I had to go around the TV that's mounted to. 00:21:58 Speaker 2: The wall and hid the TV in a little wild and then there's a credenza there that I couldn't move, so there's no wallpaper at the bottom. 00:22:05 Speaker 4: But I was like, I don't care. I like how it looks. 00:22:10 Speaker 3: By I really admire that. My sister just this morning sent me a picture of a wall she painted this woman is seven months pregnant painted a wall. Wow, I can't hang a picture? What is wrong with me? I mean, this is something I've got to get into in therapy. This is something I have to work on my fear of doing things. I'm incapable. 00:22:33 Speaker 2: You're not incapable. It's just hard and I will do things myself and then I'll go I did a bad job. Like I hung some paintings over here and they're spaced so poorly. Again, I could have paid someone to space them nicely. But they're up and I'm happy and it doesn't actually matter. Maybe you're a perfectionists and you have to get over that. 00:22:54 Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that might be the problem. Do you have a stud finder when you hang your pictures or you just randomly puncturing holes in the wall. 00:23:01 Speaker 2: I'm just putting holes in my wall. I support that. That's kind of my method. 00:23:09 Speaker 3: I just hope that it's not too heavy. 00:23:11 Speaker 4: Yeah, wish for the best. And it's a picture. 00:23:14 Speaker 2: I don't think you need a studfinder for a picture. Maybe like a curtain. 00:23:18 Speaker 3: Or yeah, like a giant oil page. 00:23:20 Speaker 2: Curtain rods myself. Wow, it didn't go well. It was very hard and there's still a hole in the wall from where I started. 00:23:29 Speaker 3: Well, from where I'm sitting, you're in a beautifully decorated room, and that's all that matters. Thang, Nicole, there's something else I have to talk to you about. Yes, I was obviously so excited to have you on the podcast. I just think you're wonderful and I thought, Nicole will come on, we'll chat for a while. I mean, I didn't anticipate getting so much great advice, but that was just a bonus. The listener got that for free as well. They didn't even have to work for it. I'm working here, they're just sitting there. They're circling a lot looking for parking. 00:24:01 Speaker 2: Or what have you. 00:24:04 Speaker 3: But you know, I was excited up until a point this morning, around ten am, there's a knock at the door. Oh, I've just thrown on an outfit. I'm ready for the day, but my hair's still wet. Go to the door and there's someone standing there holding a package. 00:24:22 Speaker 2: Oh. 00:24:23 Speaker 3: Yes, it's a small it's probably about nine by six inches. It's in kind of a beautiful plaid wrap. 00:24:33 Speaker 4: Lindsay wrapped it, my wonderful assistant. 00:24:36 Speaker 2: She was so friendly. I mean, she's really not. 00:24:38 Speaker 3: After our fight, I should say that in a fight, you might want to just keep an eye on Lindsay as an assistant. Okay, okay, But now I've got this package, and I tried. I finally was able to put two and two together. I thought Nichol's gonna be on the podcast. This Lindsay person was obviously sent to do her dirty work. 00:25:00 Speaker 2: Gift for me? It is. 00:25:02 Speaker 4: It is a gift for you. 00:25:04 Speaker 3: Okay, Well that's fine, that's absolutely fine. I have no problem with it. The podcast is called I said, no gifts, not a big deal. I mean, it's now in my home and Lindsay's not out nowhere to be seen. I can't send it back. 00:25:18 Speaker 2: No, you can't. 00:25:18 Speaker 4: So sorry, Should I open it here on the show? 00:25:21 Speaker 2: I would love for you to open it? 00:25:35 Speaker 3: Okay, Well let's get into it here. I'm gonna put the mic down and open it. Oh, this is a very handy thing to have on head. Cough drops eglah, cough drops. 00:25:57 Speaker 2: Uh huh. Listen, you might get COVID, you might get a different cough And I figured, I'm always like, fuck, I wish. 00:26:07 Speaker 4: I had cough drops, So I got you cough drops. 00:26:10 Speaker 3: You never have cough drops when you need them exactly one of these things that you've got to have around for when the cough strikes. And yeah, I feel like the last time I bought cough drops was probably pre pandemic and those have got to be thrown away at this point. I don't even know where they are. They're they're rustling around in some drawer right right. But to have a few of these at the bottom of your bag, what a blessing. Yes, these are the original herb flavor. I've never had this flavor of you I. 00:26:39 Speaker 2: Have, and I do like them the best because they're not super sweet. 00:26:43 Speaker 4: They're just there to do the job. 00:26:45 Speaker 2: Do you know what I'm saying? Like lootens, that's candy. That's candy to lubricate your throat. Hauls a little too intense sometimes with the fucking eucalyptus coming through. 00:26:56 Speaker 4: But Ricola recola just wants you to stop coughing and a nice time. 00:27:01 Speaker 3: What I wonder what herbs they're using? Alpine Swiss alpine herbs. What does that even mean? 00:27:05 Speaker 2: Is it like an herby? 00:27:07 Speaker 3: Are we talking oregano? 00:27:09 Speaker 4: Uh? 00:27:10 Speaker 3: Let's see here, herb mixture elder whorehound. I've never heard of any of these things. Hiss up, lemon ball, Linden Flowers, mallow mallow, that's a well, it's mallow, peppermint, sagetime wild time. This sounds like a real savory cough drop. 00:27:30 Speaker 4: It's not super savory, but it's not sweet. 00:27:34 Speaker 2: Okay, it's how do I explain it? I mean it is RBI. This is I'm I'm literally just using the descriptors that they have on the fucking bag. I don't. 00:27:45 Speaker 4: I think it just feels comfortable and like home. 00:27:50 Speaker 2: I love it. 00:27:51 Speaker 3: I mean it is candy. I love a cherry cough drop. Do they make a lemon cough drop? 00:27:55 Speaker 2: I think a lemon I can do. Lemon's nice. Just those halls too much, I do like. 00:28:03 Speaker 3: Is it menthol they put in some of these that is truly just burning through the back of your throat. Yes, there's a little bit of masochism there that I enjoy. 00:28:12 Speaker 2: It's just like the true just burn that you're dealing with. 00:28:15 Speaker 3: It's not spicy, It's like it feels like you're cleaning a toilet or something. 00:28:19 Speaker 2: It's like it's like a Menthol cigarette. I did used to smoke those. Those are my favorite but I have since quit. When did you quit? Sucks? 00:28:28 Speaker 4: Okay, So I. 00:28:29 Speaker 2: Quit January third last year, started again last September, and then quit again January fifth this year of this year. 00:28:41 Speaker 3: Yes, how this is an exciting development for you. 00:28:44 Speaker 2: Yes, although I do miss them, hence me bringing them up. 00:28:50 Speaker 3: Nicole is lighting up right now. 00:28:54 Speaker 2: I miss them so fucking much, Oh I do. 00:28:58 Speaker 4: They're fabulous, but they're not good for you. 00:29:01 Speaker 3: How long had you been smoking for? 00:29:02 Speaker 2: I had been smoking for a solid like twenty. 00:29:05 Speaker 3: Years, Nicole, I'm sorry now started smoked for twenty years. I mean that's another point of pride. I suppose two decades of doing anything, you know. 00:29:18 Speaker 2: I was really committed to this. 00:29:20 Speaker 4: I was like, this is ill. 00:29:21 Speaker 1: I am. 00:29:24 Speaker 3: Who introduced you to cigarettes. 00:29:26 Speaker 2: One of my friends in middle school, her mother smoked, and she smoked Marboro lights, and she had them in the cabinet with the booze, and she would put rubber bands on the cabinet and then we were like, oh, we could just take the rubber bands off and we would like steal her booze and steal her cigarettes. Then I had another friend who smoked Marble reds, and I would smoke those with her, and then I had another friend who smoked marble menthol lights and I was like, ooh, this is what I like. I went through a phase where I smoked Virginia slims. I smoked capries just like long skinny ones I do. 00:30:08 Speaker 3: I mean, I don't smoke, but if I were to smoke, I would need it to be at least like nine inches long. The cigarette's gotta be huge, it's gotta be very Yes, when you smoke your first cigarette, was it like a peer pressure situation or it was like I'm ready to light up? 00:30:24 Speaker 2: Oh? 00:30:25 Speaker 4: I was ready to light up. 00:30:26 Speaker 2: I was one of those girls that was like, oh, I'm I'll do almost anything to be considered cool. I'll try anything once. But I didn't know that you had to like inhale. And then I didn't know you had to learn how to inhale. So then I took it upon myself. I was like, I'm gonna learn. I'm not gonna be embarrassed again. So I practice. You have to like learn how to smoke, and then you get addicted to it. 00:30:49 Speaker 3: And this was pre YouTube. There weren't tutorials on YouTube. 00:30:53 Speaker 2: Smoke, nary a video to watch. I had to learn all on my own in my garage. How long did it take you to learn? Probably like two weeks and then I was like, okay, I know how to fucking do this now. And then you know, you blow it out of your nose and you could do Little O's. Well, you are a real true blue smoker. 00:31:12 Speaker 5: Yeah, I worked really hard at it. What were you kind of a rebellious team m yes, yes, very much. Did it manifest itself in other ways other than smoking cigarettes? 00:31:28 Speaker 2: I smoked a ton of weed in high school. I would drink with friends on the weekends. I liked staying out late. I mean, just like typical things. I would forge or like not forge. I would make my own permission slips and I would tell my dad. I was like, oh, I don't go to school today. We're going to the city to see cabaret. Can you sign this permission slip and give me cash? And he'd be like okay, And then we would skip school, go to the city and literally see matinees. So, I mean, like, I wasn't doing dangerous stuff, just real fucking nerd shit. 00:32:04 Speaker 3: You were living it up. 00:32:06 Speaker 2: It was like You're on vacation, living my best life. 00:32:09 Speaker 3: But then you smoked for twenty years. Yes, and you've just so your experience with quitting smoking. Is it painful? Does it make you nauseous? Or is it just like a little like nagging feeling every day? 00:32:23 Speaker 2: It is a nagging feeling. So when I first tried to quit, like two or three or four years ago, I read half of this book The Easy Way to Quit by Alan Carr, and I got to like almost the last chapter and I was like, wait, this really, I really feel like I want to quit. So I stopped reading it because I felt like I wanted to quit, so that I read it again and then I was like, oh, I'm ready. And then you know, some days I'd be like, oh, I want one, but then I'd be like whatever, and then made it nine months without smoking. Started again. But then every time I smoked a cigarette, I was like, I don't like this. Oh it's not good. They taste bad, like if you really break them down, they're very bad. So then I was like, why did you start again? Let's just quit again. So then I didn't have to reread the book. I quit again. Sometimes before bed, I go, hm, but what if? And then I'm like put on my eyemask, take my very mild tranquilizer and go right to sleep. 00:33:24 Speaker 3: Do you feel like any habit has kind of taken the place of smoking. 00:33:28 Speaker 2: No. I try to, like take my dog for longer walks, but then he gets tired and I get tired. I have no idea what would replace it, because it's not even like a hand mouth thing. It's not like I need something in my mouth. Although I'm doing this right now and it feels really good. I'm putting it down with my two fingers to my mouth. 00:33:48 Speaker 4: It feels really great. 00:33:49 Speaker 2: I miss it. Yeah, I haven't replaced it with anything, though. 00:33:54 Speaker 3: Okay, well, maybe you'll find something. I feel like finding something will maybe like really be a firewall against starting again. I'm really concerned for you. I don't want you to start again. 00:34:05 Speaker 2: Thank you. Neither do any of my doctors. 00:34:12 Speaker 3: Have you ever smoked in a casino? I feel like if I was going to smoke, it would be in a casino. 00:34:16 Speaker 2: Yes, and it's glorious. I love smoking inside. I love it like I'm from Jersey, and it took Jersey a very long time to ban smoking. Indoors and smoking sections are so funny because the whole restaurant smells like smoke, but like you just smoke in a diner. Oh, I love it. There's nothing like it. 00:34:36 Speaker 3: When did Jerseys stop the smoking sections? 00:34:39 Speaker 2: I feel like in the early two thousands, oh, by like late nineties. It felt like it was a long time because I feel like in face school you could smoke. I might be wrong. Someone's probably listening being like circling around looking for parking going. No, I know that year. It was nineteen eighty sixty seven. I'm pretty sure it was the nineties. Wow, very late to me. I have like. 00:35:03 Speaker 3: Foggy memories of smoking sections. I think Utah probably banned them in ninety five or something. 00:35:10 Speaker 2: You're from Utah, I'm from Utah from I was just in Utah for what Sundance? 00:35:16 Speaker 3: Oh, at Sundance. 00:35:18 Speaker 2: I was at Sundance for one day, and I did not know how cold it was in Utah. Also, I thought Utah was by Seattle. 00:35:26 Speaker 4: It's not. 00:35:30 Speaker 3: I mean it's close to Seattle than New York. 00:35:32 Speaker 2: Yeah, but I thought it was definitely north of California. Instead, it's like east. It's like the real lateral move from La. I couldn't believe it. 00:35:43 Speaker 3: That makes me feel so much better about my geographical knowledge of the United States because the East Coast. I'm like, it could be anything. I really don't know where states are beyond Colorado. It's just like it's just a big blur for me. I can kind of tell you where things are. But now that you don't, that you've just learned you ties not next door to Seattle. I feel incredible. I feel like we're one and the same. We were in Park City. 00:36:10 Speaker 4: Rocked my world. 00:36:12 Speaker 2: I was in Park City and nobody else was interested in Zillow listings. I was like, this is a cute, picturesque place. I need to find out how much people pay to live here. I found an adorable two bedroom, two bathroom historical home. I think it was a church that was turned into a home. It was for one point three million dollars a two bedroom, two bathroom. I couldn't believe it. 00:36:31 Speaker 4: But it was right off Main Street. Then I found a condo. 00:36:34 Speaker 2: For nine million dollars. 00:36:36 Speaker 4: Do you want me to share a wall? For nine million dollars? 00:36:40 Speaker 2: How big? 00:36:41 Speaker 4: You lost your mind? 00:36:43 Speaker 2: I think it was like three thousand square feet or four thousand square feet, so like a pretty big condo. I think it was like the whole top floor. But I just couldn't fathom. 00:36:54 Speaker 3: Truly, unless you're in New York or Tokyo, you were not paying nine million dollars for a condo. What are we talking about here? 00:37:01 Speaker 2: I don't know. Blew my mind. But again, right off Main Street. 00:37:05 Speaker 3: You've got easy access to shopping restaurants Sunday that's. 00:37:10 Speaker 2: When it happens once a year. But boy, oh boys, Park City pretty. 00:37:16 Speaker 3: It's beautiful, isn't it. It's really a pleasant place to be. What were you What did you do while you were there? 00:37:21 Speaker 4: I had directed a short that was shown. 00:37:25 Speaker 2: Oh so that was nice and that was fun. I was only there literally for twenty four hours, because I was doing a weekend of shows in Irvine Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Flew in Sunday, left Monday, real whirl wind. 00:37:40 Speaker 3: Did you get any They give away so much great free stuff at Sundance. Did you get anything for free? 00:37:45 Speaker 2: No? I didn't get anything, Nicole. 00:37:46 Speaker 3: You've wasted, absolutely wasted your trip to Sunday. 00:37:50 Speaker 2: I know. I just I didn't get a chance to like go get the free stuff. 00:37:55 Speaker 3: Oh my heart, you could have walked away with so many beautiful items. They want people to take their luxury items. It's incredible. 00:38:03 Speaker 4: I feel so foolish. I didn't realize I could get all the free stuff. I love free stuff. 00:38:09 Speaker 3: Well that's a little tip for next time. Did you see any exciting celebrities or anything, No. 00:38:15 Speaker 2: I possible, I did. I flew in, I had an hour to do my hair and makeup, and then I had to go do press, and then we did the screening, and then we did more press, and then I had to go to a dinner and then I promptly passed out. Because the show on Saturday, I didn't get home till two am, and then had to get picked up for my flight at five. So I was like scared if I fell asleep between two and five, I would just miss getting picked up and miss the flight. So then I slept on the flight for two hours, and I was just not okay. People kept asking me questions. I'd be like, I don't know one of these words. Well, I don't know. 00:38:53 Speaker 3: Well was the short well received? 00:38:55 Speaker 4: It went over pretty well. 00:38:56 Speaker 2: I think the people they laughed at the things I wanted them to laugh at. 00:38:59 Speaker 3: So that was, oh fantastic. Is this the first short you've directed? 00:39:03 Speaker 2: Technically? Yes, I've done stuff through like UCB where like it was a collaborative effort, but this is the first time I was just like action, cut, do it this way, and nobody else had to say, you. 00:39:14 Speaker 3: Know, did you have a good time doing it? 00:39:17 Speaker 2: I did. I realized I really do like directing and like figuring out a performance. A lot of the meticulous stuff like what shoes should she wear? I'm like, I don't know, whatever covers her feet and she's comfortable, you know what I mean, Like I unless I say something specific, I'm like, I don't really care. Let's just do it. Let's go. 00:39:35 Speaker 3: You're just there for the performance more or less. 00:39:38 Speaker 2: Yeah, and then the. 00:39:39 Speaker 3: Usually it's a complete mess. 00:39:41 Speaker 2: Yeah, everything else is messing the sound, can't hear a thing, but we have those performances. 00:39:48 Speaker 3: Well, I hope that you get to go. I'm sure you'll be back to Sundance at some point, and hopefully for an extended period of time. I mean, I've never been there officially, and I've had a better experience at Sundance than you. I've seen celebrities, I've gotten free items. 00:40:03 Speaker 2: Who is the biggest celebrity you've. 00:40:05 Speaker 3: Seen, let's see, I mean probably Jennifer Aniston. I feel like, okay there now, I mean, I'm talking this big game and I have one person to name that it's kind of I mean, let's just say there is just a There are so many big celebrities. I can't even remember just celebrity after celebrity. 00:40:24 Speaker 2: I did see. 00:40:26 Speaker 3: I believe it was Reba McIntyre's assistant screaming at someone on the phone about having to clean a walk in fridge. 00:40:33 Speaker 2: So that was more. 00:40:34 Speaker 3: That's better than a celebrity siding for me. 00:40:36 Speaker 2: I love it. I love that Riba has a walk in fridge near her, like, that's like, what for what? Reba? 00:40:45 Speaker 3: And I think the walk in fridge was in Park City, so she was probably it's probably not even her home. She renting a place that has a walk in fridge. 00:40:52 Speaker 2: And running across and then get chilled. 00:40:57 Speaker 3: Have you ever worked any food business? 00:41:00 Speaker 2: Yes, I was a hostess at a restaurant that has now gone. It was in Union Square called Chat and Chew, And then I was a server at a place that has also gone called Pernima. 00:41:14 Speaker 3: Did you ever have access to the walk and fridge? 00:41:17 Speaker 2: I would never go into the walk in fridge because they were fucking nasty, really New York restaurants are fucking gross. What are just like? What is that? The one in the Indian restaurant that I worked at, It was like an Indian restaurant slash Irish bar slash cabaret room. 00:41:37 Speaker 4: It was the wildest place. 00:41:38 Speaker 2: Perfect combination ever been. But there was like roaches and shit and rats. It was gross. 00:41:45 Speaker 3: Oh no, I don't like to hear that. All of my walk in fridge experience at work has been pristine. It's just this lovely little cave. You get to go inside, and you're hot from work, so you you really take your time in there. There is the worry that it's gonna get sealed and you're gonna be trapped in there, which must have happened to somebody at some point. 00:42:05 Speaker 2: Thirty degrees right, that's that's what isn't that? Yeah? Probably reason refrigerator you're not gonna do. 00:42:12 Speaker 3: Actually, no, it can't. That would be below freezing and all of your food would freeze. What is the temperature of a refrigerator? Forty A freezer must be below Oh on, alease's forty one. 00:42:23 Speaker 2: You're on it. Forty one. 00:42:24 Speaker 3: Forty one is the temperature you want for a fridge so, yeah, you're not. 00:42:28 Speaker 2: Going to freeze to death in a refrigerator. It'll just be a little chilly. 00:42:31 Speaker 3: And I guess you're not gonna starve to death either. No, it actually might be a perfect scenario. 00:42:36 Speaker 2: Yeah, just drink the shit in there, eat some stuff whatever, you know, some fruits, vegetables. You'll probably like be healthy by the time you get removed. 00:42:47 Speaker 3: It's a little vacation to like a wellness center essentially, what it is. Your skin probably looks beautiful coming out, right. Oh, well, we love a walk in fridge. I've got my cough drops here. 00:43:00 Speaker 2: Have you had COVID? Oh I've had it, I think three times officially too. Okay, okay, I think I got it the end of twenty nineteen. I'm one of those people. I'm it was like, I think I had it. Of all everybody, I'm the coolest. 00:43:15 Speaker 4: But yeah, I was in Portland. 00:43:17 Speaker 2: I was doing shows and I thought I was tired from doing shows, but I also had this horrific cough that like would keep me up at night. 00:43:22 Speaker 4: My chest hurt. 00:43:24 Speaker 2: And then I gave it to my friend and when I left, she was like, whatever the fuck you had was brutal, and I was like sorry about it, and then COVID came around. I was like, oh shit, I think I had COVID, and then I got it May of last year because I went to upfronts and then I got it in December, and I don't know how. 00:43:42 Speaker 4: I was being careful. 00:43:43 Speaker 2: One was a mystery. Mm hmm. 00:43:46 Speaker 3: Well, I feel like we're all, yeah, we're just now getting it from all over the place, so there's there won't be any pinning it down at this point. No, I mean, if you had a similar look, I'm not trying to I guess this isn't one uping, but it's kind of a mirror of your experience. Early twenty twenty, I go to Omaha to see my boyfriend. I come back, I have horrible cough, the fever of a lifetime, the sort of fever where you're so you get the chills so bad that you just lie down in the shower and almost never get out, just wanting to boil yourself. All of the you know, telltale symptoms, but there was nothing to really call it at that point. H And then here comes COVID. So there's that first experience. Second experience was Christmas twenty twenty two. Had all of the symptoms tested negative. Every time gave it to my boyfriend, he tested positive. So there's that situation. And then I had it more recently, and of course at that point I had been vaccinated and boosted and blah blah blah. 00:44:48 Speaker 2: So it was so you had a December twenty twenty two and then you got it. 00:44:52 Speaker 4: We said, we have Snuary. 00:44:54 Speaker 3: No, we have to back up December twenty twenty one. 00:44:57 Speaker 4: Oh, I see, I see it. 00:44:59 Speaker 3: Ye, well I misspoke, I've uh, it's okay. Yeah, So yeah, it was. Essentially we've had it every year and it's getting better and better and I'm having the time of my life. 00:45:13 Speaker 2: Last time I had it, I was like, I don't want this again, because it wasn't terrible, but I would have a conversation, an hour long phone call, and then be like, I better lay down. I feel so so tired and lighted, and I'm like, I don't want that, and then it takes too long to get back into the swing of shit. 00:45:32 Speaker 3: Right, And it just is so unbelievably inconvenient. It's just annoying. It's being sick. It's just no one wants to be sick with anything. I mean strep throat flew. There are so many different horrible things that can happen. 00:45:47 Speaker 2: Yeah, and I woar my little mask on the plane and people look at you funny. But Naomi Campbell was right. She had a video before COVID where she was literally like in a hazmat suit, wiping down everything, and she's like, it's my health, and I was like, you know what, you're right me and I don't. I don't want to breathe these other people's there unless it's filtered through something. And what was she doing that before COVID, like way before, way before, And people would look at her funny, and she would be like, I don't care. I don't care, but I'm on board with her. I wipe down everything because nobody cleans on planes. Planes are really fucking disgusting. But I have yet to get sick after being on a flight, and I used to get sick all the time after flights, So I do think there's something to it. The mask is helping a little, it's doing something. 00:46:35 Speaker 3: I mean, hopefully it's doing something. There's got to be a reason for it. 00:46:40 Speaker 2: I don't know. I mean, like surgeons and stuff where them and they haven't stopped. So like, I think there's a little some to I don't know they have. 00:46:47 Speaker 3: Some knowledge about that that area. I don't know. Well, I think we should play a game. 00:46:54 Speaker 4: Eh, okay, I'll when. 00:46:58 Speaker 2: We'll see about that. 00:47:00 Speaker 3: We're gonna play a game. Let's play gift or a curse. This feels I mean, you're coming in with this big winning energy and we're just gonna see. Okay, but first I need to number between one and ten from you eight. Okay, I have to do some light calculating. While I'm calculating, I'm gonna be away from the mic. You're kind of home alone. You've got the mic, chat with the listener. Recommend something, promote something, do whatever you want to, probably right. 00:47:24 Speaker 2: Okay, recommend something, Promote something. Okay. So I have a show called Grand Crew, and that premiere is the second season premiere is March third. 00:47:35 Speaker 4: The first season is on Peacock or Hulu. 00:47:39 Speaker 2: If you've like live television or something, I think you can watch it. But I'm really proud of this show. I think it's really funny. I think you'll enjoy it. The first season really revs up, and the last couple episodes are like show fun and then season two starts out the gate, super super fun and I think it gets better and better. It's like a real rom com sitcom, if you will. I also have other podcasts. I have Why Won't You Date Me? Where I try to figure out why I'm single, and then I have best Friends with Sis Years and Nata where we're just like ha ha ha tihihiing. 00:48:09 Speaker 4: It's truly wild. It's very fun. 00:48:11 Speaker 2: And then Newcomers with Lauren Lapkiz that's a real treat and a dream. And then ninety Day Bay where me and my friend Marcy talk about all things ninety Day Beyonce and Darcy and Stacy all that stuff. Also I have nailed it, and then wipe out so you can watch all that shit is. 00:48:27 Speaker 3: Fun, perfectly done. Thank you really you nailed it. It was so sweet and Grand Crew is such a funny show. 00:48:34 Speaker 2: People should be honest to look out for you. 00:48:36 Speaker 3: I really love a podcast. Okay, well, this is how gift or a Curse works. I'm going to name three things. You're going to tell me if they're a gift or a curse and why. Okay, now that I'm going to tell you if you're right or wrong because there are correct answers. People have lost the game. You could lose the game. You could win Big two. So just try your very best. Promise me you'll do your best. 00:49:00 Speaker 2: I'll do my best. 00:49:00 Speaker 3: A promise, Okay. First up, this is a listener's suggestion from someone named Liz Gift or a curse Restaurant specials. 00:49:11 Speaker 2: Restaurants specials, I think are a curse because I've already looked through the restaurant's menu in my own leisure at my home, so I would be adequately prepared to order what I wanted to order, and I wouldn't hold up the ordering process because I am a very indecisive person. But I've already chosen and I don't need a curveball. Oh my god. 00:49:34 Speaker 3: That is if I had written down my answer, it would have been what you just said. Of course, it's a curse. I can't have this random element coming in at the last minute for me. I have to do, you know, I have got to do my homework before I get to the restaurant or everyone's going to be screaming at me. Yes, And sometimes the restaurant special is a little bit tempting, but not tempting enough, and then I no second guessing everything. I recently went for a restaurant special and was deeply disappointed. I should have just gone with what I wanted. 00:50:07 Speaker 4: What was a special? 00:50:09 Speaker 3: It was wavos rancheros, which I usually love. 00:50:13 Speaker 2: This. Well, here's here's the thing with a lot of specials. If it was actually special and good, it'd be on the menu full time. 00:50:22 Speaker 3: What a good point. That's very true. If you're if you're that excited about the dish printed on the menu for me, don't put it in the dry erase marker. 00:50:32 Speaker 2: The only place that has a special that's worthwhile is Little Doms. Friday night, they have lasagna, and I love their lasagna, so I try to get it to go, and now they've decided you can't order it to go. You have to go in, sit at the bar and order it there and then bag it up. 00:50:53 Speaker 4: And I don't understand. 00:50:54 Speaker 3: Why do you go sit at the bar, order it for there and then say, oh, I'm like take a bite and be like, oh I'm fin Could I get a bag to go? 00:51:01 Speaker 2: Listen, she's busy. My assistant does it part of her job. Now. 00:51:08 Speaker 3: I noticed she was covered in sauce when she showed up at my house. 00:51:11 Speaker 2: Because she was waiting for fucking Lizagnia. 00:51:16 Speaker 4: But I also tell her to get dinner for herself and she has to go in. 00:51:20 Speaker 2: Oh that's very nice of you. So fucking dumb, But that the. 00:51:23 Speaker 3: Special you're describing is kind of a special you can count on. You know it's not. I mean, it's the Friday Night Special. We all we know it's always going to be there, So that one I can kind of get behind. But these ones where it's just like the chef had a flight of fancy. 00:51:36 Speaker 2: Here it is. 00:51:38 Speaker 3: I can't. I can't deal with it. It's a curse excellently played right there. Okay, so number two this is for a listener, suggested a listener named Madeline. Let's let's give credit. Madeline suggested gift or a curse. At the end of a performance, when the performers gesture to the audience and clap for them. 00:51:58 Speaker 2: That is a curse. I didn't you anything I came to enjoy. And also I don't want to be recognized as an audience member. There's a fourth wall for a reason. I want to enjoy what I watched and clap for you, and now you're telling me to clap for me. No, no, no, no, no, no, I don't like it occurs. 00:52:20 Speaker 3: Oh, Nicole, I hate to hear it. So I hate to hear it. It's a gift I love. There's nothing I love more than suddenly the actor watching an actor do that or a performer is the corniest thing you could possibly see. And look, it kind of brings you know. It shows they have a weakness, It shows their flawed. They're as flawed as I am, and it puts me on a level with them. And I love to see it. I can't get enough of it. 00:52:48 Speaker 2: Wow. 00:52:49 Speaker 4: Do you like when people clap when planes land. 00:52:51 Speaker 3: To let people clap for whatever they want to clap? 00:52:56 Speaker 2: They're saying that plane clapping story that has ever had happened was we were delayed for two hours and when they finally closed the boarding door, the flight attendant was like, I couldn't say this before, but I'm saying now the boarding door is finally closed and we are ready for takeoff, and everyone started clapping, and without like skipping a beat, the planet goes. Since we've been sitting here for two hours with the engines on, we need to refuel. We're not going anywhere for fifteen to twenty minutes and I was the only one who laughed. It was like the darling. 00:53:29 Speaker 4: Oh I should have clapped for that. 00:53:30 Speaker 2: That would have been great. That's a beautiful story. 00:53:35 Speaker 3: No, look, it's uh when people clap on a plane, I'm let's be very clear, I'm not joining in. But you know, whatever, clap, do whatever you want, as long as you're minding your own business. I mean clapping at the end of a movie. We're crossing a line. It's like, who are we claping? 00:53:52 Speaker 2: I did clap at the end of Megan. 00:53:55 Speaker 3: Well, that's kind of that's you mean. I saw Megan. We've got a clap for me. 00:54:01 Speaker 2: Saw Megan in a theater full of gay people, divas and preteens. We clapped at her entrance. We clapped at the first bad thing she did. We sang along when she sang a haunting rendition of a song that I don't want to ruin. If you haven't seen the movie, it was fabulous. I had the best time at that fucking movie Megan. 00:54:22 Speaker 3: I mean, my only complaint is there's not enough Megan. It should have been all Megan. She should have next movie, let her carry the show. Maybe maybe it's about Megan dealing with another Megan. So it's just pure robot. 00:54:38 Speaker 2: Dolls Megan and Megan. 00:54:42 Speaker 3: I mean, Megan is spelled with like a three, isn't it. Yeah, it's like M three G. I wonder if they're gonna use a four in the next one. What's a name with the four? Can kind of be an h Is it Heather? Maybe it's Heather. If the next one is called head I would be telling Heather. 00:55:02 Speaker 2: It's like, okay, Megan and Heather. 00:55:08 Speaker 3: Oh please, I'm reaching out to Hollywood. We need Heather. We've got to get the Heather moving in production. Okay, so you've gotten one out of two so far. So now the wheels are coming off a little bit. Let's see if you can get it back on track. Finally, someone named Bailey has suggested gift or a curse silent discos. 00:55:28 Speaker 2: I feel like you might say it's a gift, but I think they're a curse. There's nothing dumber than people with headphones just dancing. And how are you interacting with anyone to dance with anyone? Are you all listening to the same thing? I don't know. Why not just have the music play on a speaker like am I old, Am I stupid? I don't know. I hate it. 00:55:52 Speaker 3: You are absolutely correct, I go, I mean, come on, what are we talking about here? But it just feels like it's being done for novelty's sake. It's a gimmick. Yeah, it's yes. And also I shouldn't have to bring hardware to the dance. The dance should be there for me. I bring my body, my moves, that's all I should have to supply. 00:56:14 Speaker 2: I agree. 00:56:15 Speaker 3: And I also get concerned about like everyone's rhythm being slightly off, and like the timing of it all. It doesn't make any sense to me. I mean, I've never done it, so maybe doing it would change my experience. 00:56:28 Speaker 2: But I don't know. 00:56:29 Speaker 3: Headphones are I don't want a big bulky pair of headphones on, or air pods in or what have you. And then how you don't talk to each other. I don't know. It feels very strange and unnecessary for me. I don't know what's d Yeah, not for me either. It's a curse. Well, you got two out of three not a bad play, and you've got the first one so unbelievably correct that, I mean absolutely swept me off my feet. I'm so proud of you. 00:57:01 Speaker 2: Thank you. 00:57:02 Speaker 3: Okay, So now this is the final segment of the podcast. It's called I said no emails people right into I said no gifts at gmail dot com. 00:57:11 Speaker 2: Nicole. 00:57:12 Speaker 3: I don't know about you, but my listeners, their lives are in turmoil NonStop. It's a it's a tough bunch. They're having a hard time at every turn, and so they you know, they look to me to answer their questions. 00:57:28 Speaker 2: Would you help me answer a question? Absolutely? 00:57:31 Speaker 3: All right, let's dive into the dock here, let's see. Okay, here we go. Great, Hello Bridger and esteemed and slash or infamous guests. Okay, so they're kind of playing both sides there with you. I don't know what their plan is. My husband and I have gotten fairly good at selecting gifts for one another over the course of our relationship, but our gift picking styles are very different. While I keep a running spreadsheet of gift ideas for all the folks I need to buy or based on small hints and conversations with them, and intentional brainstorming session oh my god, what is this person doing? And intentional brainstorming sessions months before I actually need to present a present. Oh, this is like a Doctor Seuss poem. What are we talking about here? My husband stresses himself out near the last minute trying to think of the absolute perfect gift When it's an occasion where he's going to give me a gift. I am privy to the process. He ends up picking great stuff, but I don't like to be the cause of worry and stress being so type a about this sort of thing. I'll try to help him think of ideas for gifts for me, but he always rejects my suggestions because, according to him, if he uses any of them, it's no longer a surprise and no longer his idea. I'm not really sure why he's imposed these rules on this process, But is there a way I can more subtly hint to him what I would like so he doesn't get so frazzled? Or do I just need to let him stress? Love the show? Okay, now they're trying to win me back very respectfully. Emily in North Carolina Emily. Okay, So what this boils down to Emily's type a? She's you know, planning, gives way in advance, She's being thoughtful non stop. She's doing brainstorming sessions. Her husband's the opposite. He needs ideas for her, but he won't just listen to her. When she gives him ideas he rejects. He wants it to be a secret surprise. What I'm I mean, just from from the moment I'm hearing this, I'm hearing that Emily's husband wants her to start keeping things from him. He wants her to I'm going to encourage Emily to start hiding. We'll start with gifts, but then maybe personal things. And you know, suddenly she's living another life that her husband's not even aware of. 00:59:44 Speaker 2: I think that's great advice, because this is a non problem. I hate to tell Emily that she wrote into this podcast to brag that she has a husband and that she has the means to buy presence enough bandwidth to I have a spreadsheet that she continues to update and spends time with her husband and watches him trip out over buying stuff with his own money that he earns because they have a dual income. 01:00:14 Speaker 4: She's got a great life. 01:00:15 Speaker 2: I'm sure she's got a picket fence and and a fun dog and maybe a kid if that's what she wants. Emily has a perfect life, and she called to brag, or she wrote in to brag. 01:00:26 Speaker 3: Her life is reigning gifts. She's throwing gifts of people. People are throwing gifts at her. I mean, to be able to run a spreadsheet, I have no idea. I mean that would help with my docs, and I've got all these docs open and they are a mess. They are an absolute swamp of information. 01:00:42 Speaker 2: What's excel? I don't know? Emily. 01:00:46 Speaker 3: Yeah, Emily, And that's why I'm thinking the husband has kind of given her this hint keep things from me. I feel like she's headed towards a Gone Girl type situation. Oh, you know, I can't remember exactly what the plot of Gone Girl was, but I feel like some lying, some deceit. 01:01:01 Speaker 2: Yes, the girl was gone. The girl was gone. 01:01:04 Speaker 3: And then she's cutting her hair in a big lots or something. I can't remember exactly what happened like that, and then she's trapped by Neil Patrick Harris. But I feel like that's what Emily's life is headed towards. You know, she is in paradise, but maybe there's some trouble brewing, and I encourage that. 01:01:21 Speaker 2: I agree, I encourage the trouble as well, because her life is too perfect. 01:01:26 Speaker 3: It's too perfect, and she's she's gonna get bored at some point, and then that's gonna be an even bigger problem for her. 01:01:32 Speaker 2: Imagine the news headline woman gone girls herself after listening to podcast. 01:01:41 Speaker 3: That is the type of press this podcast needs. That's all I want this pod. I need this podcast to be the spark of multiple crimes. I just want my all of my listeners to turn to crime. So if we can get the word out in that way, I'm happy to do it. And we start with Emily. 01:02:01 Speaker 2: Yes, Emily, start your crime. 01:02:03 Speaker 3: Spree, Nicole. We answered the question more than perfectly. Emily can't complain, and if she does, that's, you know, on her. There's only so much I can do. There's only so much you can do. And we just hope that Emily finds what she's really looking for. I hope so, Nicole. I've had such a terrific time with you here. I've now got these cough drops which I can kind of sprinkle throughout my bag and they'll just be kind of shuffling around down there from when I get some disgusting cough and then I can pop one in and be slightly under control. 01:02:40 Speaker 2: Mm hmmm, you're welcome. 01:02:43 Speaker 3: Yes, I can't thank you enough, and thank you for being here. 01:02:47 Speaker 2: Thank you for having me. 01:02:48 Speaker 3: What a real treat listener. The podcast is screeching to a halt. You know the tap it has been shut off. The drip will slowly end and you will, of course move on. So I'm excited for you. I'm encouraging you to commit crime or do whatever you need to do with your day, whatever it takes to fill your life. I love you, goodbye. I said, No Gifts is an exactly right production. It's produced by our dear friend Annalise Neilson, and it's beautifully mixed by Leona Squilatchi. And we couldn't do it without our guest booker Patrick Kottner. The theme song, of course, could only come from miracle worker Amy Mann. You must follow the show on Instagram at I said no Gifts, I don't want to hear any excuses. That's where you get to see pictures of all these gorgeous gifts I'm getting. And don't you want to see pictures of the gifts? 01:03:47 Speaker 2: The I invit? Did you hear? 01:03:51 Speaker 1: Funa man myself perfectly clear? When you're a guest, Tom come to me empty, and I said, no, guests, your presence is presents enough. I already had too much stuff, So how do you dare to surbey me?