WEBVTT - The Fifth Hour: Roberto Flores, Wheel Change 0:00:00.920 --> 0:00:01.680 Kubbooms. 0:00:02.480 --> 0:00:05.600 If you thought four hours a day, twelve hundred minutes 0:00:05.640 --> 0:00:09.400 a week was enough, think again. He's the last remnants 0:00:09.400 --> 0:00:12.680 of the old republic, a sol fashion of fairness. He 0:00:12.800 --> 0:00:15.720 treats crackheads in the ghetto gutter the same as the 0:00:15.840 --> 0:00:17.680 rich pill poppers in the penthouse. 0:00:18.280 --> 0:00:18.560 Wow. 0:00:18.800 --> 0:00:22.520 The Clearinghouse of Hot takes break free for something special. 0:00:22.880 --> 0:00:29.560 The Fifth Hour with Ben Maller starts right now. 0:00:29.240 --> 0:00:37.120 In the a everywhere you have found the weekended fund 0:00:37.240 --> 0:00:42.120 zone open for business. Come one, come all fun for 0:00:42.200 --> 0:00:47.159 the whole family. Unless it's not. We will attempt to 0:00:47.240 --> 0:00:49.920 knock your socks off, but in a good way. The 0:00:49.960 --> 0:00:53.360 Fifth Hour with myself, Ben Mallor and Danny g Radio 0:00:53.400 --> 0:00:58.280 in the podcast Ojo This week different than all other 0:00:58.400 --> 0:01:01.200 weeks on the Ben Maller Radio Show, and we talk 0:01:01.240 --> 0:01:03.680 a lot about that here on the podcast. It is 0:01:03.760 --> 0:01:06.800 a companion to keep your company on the weekends. Did 0:01:06.800 --> 0:01:09.800 we go skinny dipping this week? No, we did not 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:13.640 go skinny dipping this week. There was none of that. 0:01:13.800 --> 0:01:17.760 There was no nudity that took place this week. However, 0:01:18.400 --> 0:01:21.120 there was a major change and if you were paying 0:01:21.160 --> 0:01:24.319 close attention listing in the middle of the night during 0:01:24.360 --> 0:01:28.040 the week. First of all, we thank you, appreciate that 0:01:28.280 --> 0:01:33.320 cool beans. Good job by you. Secondly, one of our 0:01:33.480 --> 0:01:37.800 good radio pals will no longer be working on the show. 0:01:37.840 --> 0:01:41.520 We announced early in the week that our friend Roberto 0:01:41.880 --> 0:01:45.679 Cooking with Roberto Fame, Roberto Flores, who has been part 0:01:45.800 --> 0:01:48.560 of the radio show for a number of years, is 0:01:49.000 --> 0:01:52.880 stepping away. He is leaving the radio show. The announcement 0:01:52.920 --> 0:01:55.480 came down and so we will not get to have 0:01:55.600 --> 0:02:00.840 fun with our pal Roberto any longer as he is 0:02:01.320 --> 0:02:04.160 done with the Ben Mather Show. Roberto worked on our 0:02:04.200 --> 0:02:08.400 program from twenty eighteen to twenty twenty three. Some of 0:02:08.440 --> 0:02:12.600 the great highlights with Roberto going back and forth. When 0:02:13.040 --> 0:02:17.120 the Lakers would lose, I would pour salt on the wound. 0:02:17.639 --> 0:02:22.680 When the Clippers would lose, Roberto would stab a knife 0:02:22.720 --> 0:02:26.080 in my gut, and that is how that went. We 0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:29.000 had great times. We're both Dodger fans, so we were 0:02:29.080 --> 0:02:32.600 lamenting the run of Dodger baseball. We were together in 0:02:32.639 --> 0:02:35.120 twenty twenty when the Dodgers won the hardest World Series 0:02:35.160 --> 0:02:38.640 of all time during a global pandemic and beat the 0:02:38.680 --> 0:02:41.800 Tampa Bay Rays. So we got to celebrate that under 0:02:41.840 --> 0:02:44.000 the stars together and that was a lot of fun. 0:02:44.680 --> 0:02:47.079 So I wanted to spend time with Robert. There is 0:02:47.120 --> 0:02:49.960 a tradition, not a great tradition, but there's a tradition 0:02:50.120 --> 0:02:54.280 in the broadcasting business. When you are fired or when 0:02:54.320 --> 0:02:59.760 you leave a broadcast job, you do not get an 0:02:59.760 --> 0:03:03.040 option opportunity to get back and say goodbye to anybody. 0:03:03.200 --> 0:03:06.280 They get rid of you, they change the codes, they 0:03:06.320 --> 0:03:09.919 shut off your email. That's just how it has always been, 0:03:10.720 --> 0:03:13.600 and it appears that is the way it will always be. 0:03:14.480 --> 0:03:17.480 So with the podcast, we have a little more leeway 0:03:17.560 --> 0:03:20.640 here on the podcast, and so I wanted to bring 0:03:20.720 --> 0:03:24.000 back my friend Roberto Flores and spend a couple of 0:03:24.000 --> 0:03:28.440 minutes shooting the shit with our man Roberto and catch 0:03:28.520 --> 0:03:30.880 up on some of the things that he's going through. 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:33.080 He's got a new career. We'll get into that if 0:03:33.080 --> 0:03:36.880 he's willing to tell us and go over everything. But 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:39.160 I would like to address as we bring in the 0:03:39.200 --> 0:03:42.560 great Roberto Flores, formerly of the Ben Mal Show, the 0:03:42.600 --> 0:03:46.080 man that kept us on the air in air traffic control, 0:03:46.160 --> 0:03:49.480 hitting all the right buttons and some of the right drops. 0:03:50.200 --> 0:03:53.320 He joins us. Now, so there's a rumor going around, Roberto, 0:03:53.960 --> 0:03:55.640 some of the fans of the show, some of the 0:03:55.640 --> 0:04:00.839 p ones, are convinced that I had you removed from 0:04:00.840 --> 0:04:04.720 the show. So once and for all, Roberto, can you 0:04:04.880 --> 0:04:11.600 confirm or deny that I Ben Malor had you fired? 0:04:12.720 --> 0:04:15.120 Yes? Ben did fire the fuck out of me. 0:04:15.960 --> 0:04:18.480 Well, well, I tried to get Poppy fired, Roberto, and 0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:21.280 they wouldn't listen, and then and then for some reason, 0:04:21.360 --> 0:04:23.520 they got rid of you. I don't I don't understand. 0:04:23.839 --> 0:04:24.640 I don't get it right. 0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:30.240 No, Ben did not fire me. I decided to lead 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:34.479 the company after five years and without a raising five years. 0:04:35.240 --> 0:04:40.800 So you made a business decision, Roberto, to to go elsewhere, 0:04:40.920 --> 0:04:44.960 to greener pastors. And would you would you like to 0:04:45.000 --> 0:04:47.960 officially reveal I know that a lot of this is 0:04:48.000 --> 0:04:50.400 out there on social media, although you are not We'll 0:04:50.440 --> 0:04:52.240 get to this in a few minutes. You are not 0:04:52.600 --> 0:04:56.559 still on Twitter. We'll address that later on. But would 0:04:56.640 --> 0:05:01.719 you like to officially reveal? Right now, you have changed careers. 0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:05.960 You have made a dramatic change in your career. You 0:05:06.080 --> 0:05:10.720 found a new job. Where will you be working now 0:05:10.760 --> 0:05:14.440 going forward, Roberto, Well, they say. 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:16.479 When you run the board, you will you're you're you're 0:05:16.560 --> 0:05:18.800 driving the bus. You're driving the bus? Is that correct? 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:20.400 Is that? Is that what? That's what you say right 0:05:20.839 --> 0:05:21.719 times it in radio? 0:05:22.000 --> 0:05:22.200 Yeah? 0:05:22.640 --> 0:05:27.599 Sure, Well I'm literally h on my way, hopefully soon 0:05:27.640 --> 0:05:32.839 to be to driving a real bus, a big yellow 0:05:33.480 --> 0:05:37.039 forty ft l a USD school bus. Ben. 0:05:37.960 --> 0:05:41.080 So you just correct, you will be Roberto the school 0:05:41.120 --> 0:05:45.560 bus driver. You will have the responsibility of and you 0:05:45.600 --> 0:05:49.040 don't you're going through the training now, yeah. 0:05:48.920 --> 0:05:52.240 Yeah, that is that is that is correct. Actually, before 0:05:52.279 --> 0:05:54.479 I can even get behind the wheel and start training, 0:05:54.839 --> 0:05:58.719 I got to get my class B uh, Class B 0:05:59.000 --> 0:06:02.120 licensed permit. And that's what I got today, my Class 0:06:02.120 --> 0:06:05.280 B licensed permit. Yay, I got my license to permit 0:06:05.560 --> 0:06:07.520 to be able to get up behind the wheel today. 0:06:08.080 --> 0:06:12.720 Congratulations, congratulate, thank you, thank you, thank you. How big 0:06:12.760 --> 0:06:15.640 a pain in the butt was that to get the license? 0:06:15.680 --> 0:06:16.400 How hard was it? 0:06:17.839 --> 0:06:21.359 It was not? It was not too hard. You know, 0:06:21.360 --> 0:06:24.159 there's believe it or not, there's like the hardest. So 0:06:24.200 --> 0:06:26.720 I had to take an air brake test, and had 0:06:26.720 --> 0:06:29.760 to take a commercial driver license test, and I had 0:06:29.800 --> 0:06:32.919 to take a passenger test. The air brake test was 0:06:33.000 --> 0:06:39.960 about it was twenty twenty questions and passenger test is 0:06:39.960 --> 0:06:42.840 also twenty questions. Those are the easier those the two 0:06:42.839 --> 0:06:44.840 were the easier ones, and the last one, which had 0:06:44.839 --> 0:06:47.960 just passed today was a commercial driver licensed test and 0:06:48.160 --> 0:06:52.599 that was fifty questions. Luckily, there's you believe it or not, 0:06:52.680 --> 0:06:57.080 there's apps and cheat sheets out there that can help 0:06:57.120 --> 0:07:00.520 you pass these tests. So it was the whats difficult 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:03.920 one was a commercial driver likesuse because it was fifty questions, 0:07:04.200 --> 0:07:05.360 a little more complicated. 0:07:05.600 --> 0:07:09.520 Okay, So the obvious question is I'm trying to get 0:07:09.520 --> 0:07:11.840 in the mind of the person listening. They're probably saying, well, 0:07:11.840 --> 0:07:14.400 wait a minute, you're part of the radio show and 0:07:14.440 --> 0:07:16.800 that you're you're a buster. Why did you decide on 0:07:16.840 --> 0:07:20.680 this for Berto? What led you down that path to 0:07:21.200 --> 0:07:26.600 want to become a bus driver? Well, let's see. 0:07:26.840 --> 0:07:30.720 First, I can say that even though I saw if 0:07:30.920 --> 0:07:34.720 I saw that great or happy on the air, I 0:07:34.720 --> 0:07:37.800 feel like that was just part of my responsibility of 0:07:37.840 --> 0:07:40.880 being a professional. Like you know, I how to ask 0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:43.480 for a raised twice and he said, oh, you're doing 0:07:43.520 --> 0:07:45.760 a great job, but you know what we can we 0:07:45.800 --> 0:07:48.880 can't pay you. Okay, I asked for a raise once, 0:07:49.400 --> 0:07:52.920 I raised twice. Nothing Also having to not being able 0:07:52.920 --> 0:07:56.280 to sleep during the week was it also was also 0:07:56.360 --> 0:07:59.600 for a fight. So for five years I really didn't 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:02.680 didn't get constant sleep during the week, which is I 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:05.600 would sleep one hour and then wake up, go back 0:08:05.600 --> 0:08:08.040 to sleep, wake up another two hours, go back. It 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:10.920 was never it was never constant a four or five hours, 0:08:10.920 --> 0:08:12.680 six hours of sleep. It was always it was like 0:08:12.840 --> 0:08:15.640 sleep was always up and down. Yeah, and then I 0:08:15.840 --> 0:08:18.880 reached a point last year was really bad. I remember 0:08:18.880 --> 0:08:21.800 I remember texting you one time last year saying have 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:24.200 you ever have you ever have you ever been not 0:08:24.320 --> 0:08:26.600 able to sleep? And You're like no, And I was like, oh, Ship, 0:08:27.040 --> 0:08:29.480 And I had texted I think it was maybe I 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:33.360 think it was it was like early early, uh February 0:08:33.400 --> 0:08:36.080 of last year, and it was like I had text 0:08:36.120 --> 0:08:38.439 you around like five o'clock and I had literally had 0:08:38.440 --> 0:08:40.920 gotten no sleep and it was like five pm already. 0:08:40.920 --> 0:08:43.080 It was like the fucking worst. It was like the 0:08:43.120 --> 0:08:46.120 fucking words thing ever, I'm not gonna lie. That's like 0:08:46.280 --> 0:08:49.960 you start, you start, You're like you start mentally like 0:08:49.960 --> 0:08:53.360 like fucking with yourself and like like you're like start 0:08:53.600 --> 0:08:57.520 going through Ship, Like you just start mentally like it's 0:08:57.640 --> 0:09:00.080 it's it's not it's not a good place when you 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:01.480 you can't get constant sleep. 0:09:01.559 --> 0:09:04.200 So yeah, yeah, yeah. 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:06.920 So after that, I was just like, you know, maybe 0:09:06.960 --> 0:09:09.679 it's it's it's it's it's a good time to try 0:09:09.720 --> 0:09:15.400 looking looking somewhere else. Uh uh. But the opportunity of 0:09:15.440 --> 0:09:18.240 the bus So I just I just thought about my 0:09:18.320 --> 0:09:23.120 wife and my daughter's schedule. How how they have Monday 0:09:23.160 --> 0:09:28.080 to Friday, uh uh by five o'clock or six o'clock 0:09:28.080 --> 0:09:30.720 at home, relaxing and they go to sleep decent time. 0:09:31.120 --> 0:09:33.360 My wife and my daughter got all the holidays off, 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:36.600 and and they got all the holidays off. You know, 0:09:36.920 --> 0:09:40.760 you got the vacation. My wife's got a great vacation bay. Uh. 0:09:40.800 --> 0:09:42.080 So I kind of want to have the same schedule 0:09:42.120 --> 0:09:43.960 with my wife and my daughter. And you know, I 0:09:43.960 --> 0:09:45.679 started looking into jobs and L A U. 0:09:45.800 --> 0:09:45.959 S D. 0:09:46.120 --> 0:09:49.320 And I'm like, you know what, being a bus driver 0:09:49.360 --> 0:09:52.720 wouldn't wouldn't be too bad. I've worked a kid before 0:09:52.760 --> 0:09:56.680 in the past, early on in in my early twenties, 0:09:56.720 --> 0:09:59.760 believe it or not, I deal with kids, and I 0:09:59.760 --> 0:10:02.120 thought would be pretty fun. I would see bus drivers, 0:10:02.160 --> 0:10:05.360 I'm like, you know, this guy's seems pretty bad as 0:10:05.360 --> 0:10:08.320 to be able to drive a big fucking bus like that. 0:10:08.360 --> 0:10:10.240 I thought it was a cool job, and you know, 0:10:10.360 --> 0:10:13.440 I applied and and uh, I went through the process. 0:10:13.520 --> 0:10:20.400 It's something where you uh various very uh uh background 0:10:20.480 --> 0:10:22.839 checks because it's a it's a believe or not. The 0:10:23.520 --> 0:10:26.959 federal Girnment gets involved because you're going through a commercial license, 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:31.040 so it involves, uh, getting a commercial license involved, you know, 0:10:31.040 --> 0:10:33.360 be you be able to drive through through different states, 0:10:33.440 --> 0:10:36.079 so the FBI or the federal government gets involved. So 0:10:36.120 --> 0:10:39.280 it was rigorous process. And and you also got to 0:10:39.320 --> 0:10:41.840 be clean. You know, I don't smoke weed, I don't 0:10:41.840 --> 0:10:44.440 do drugs anymore, so it's kind of like a no brainer. 0:10:45.080 --> 0:10:46.480 It was kind of like a no brainer for me. 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:48.840 And you know, I definitely don't drink as much as 0:10:48.840 --> 0:10:50.840 I used to, just just because I just I was 0:10:50.920 --> 0:10:53.080 just tired. I'm just tired of the hangovers that used 0:10:53.120 --> 0:10:54.600 to get all the time. I still drink it, don't 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:56.480 get me wrong, but not as much. And it was 0:10:56.559 --> 0:10:57.920 kind of a it was kind of like a no 0:10:58.040 --> 0:11:01.880 brainer for me. And honestly, it's a talking to other 0:11:01.880 --> 0:11:06.120 people a pretty good job, and the pay is great 0:11:06.200 --> 0:11:06.800 to be honest. 0:11:07.000 --> 0:11:09.240 Yeah, well that's great. No. And I tried to explain 0:11:09.280 --> 0:11:11.840 to people when I was getting emails, some fans of 0:11:11.840 --> 0:11:14.719 the show, Roberto, and they're they're like, where's he going? Well, 0:11:14.720 --> 0:11:16.760 you got to get them back, and I'm like, you 0:11:16.800 --> 0:11:21.520 don't understand. The overnight hours are not They're a grind. 0:11:21.559 --> 0:11:24.559 They wear you out. People that work overnight and I 0:11:24.840 --> 0:11:27.400 have talked about this, We talked about this together, like 0:11:27.480 --> 0:11:30.240 you don't live as long when you work overnight. It's 0:11:30.360 --> 0:11:34.120 just not good for your health. And like, I'm a 0:11:34.240 --> 0:11:37.760 bad sleeper. I get four or five hours of sleep 0:11:37.880 --> 0:11:42.040 most but compared to you, Roberto, you know, I can 0:11:42.120 --> 0:11:45.320 get three or four solid hours of sleep most of 0:11:45.360 --> 0:11:47.880 the time, and that's pretty much all I need. I 0:11:47.920 --> 0:11:51.120 certainly function better when I get seven or eight hours. 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:53.400 But I've been doing this a long time, and that's 0:11:53.440 --> 0:11:55.079 just kind of And I remember when you called me 0:11:55.160 --> 0:11:56.560 up and you were talking about how you were having 0:11:56.640 --> 0:11:58.720 issues sleeping, and I was like, remember I went through 0:11:58.720 --> 0:12:00.400 the list. I was like, you got to get triple 0:12:00.440 --> 0:12:03.320 blackout curtains, you got to get a sleep mask, you 0:12:03.400 --> 0:12:05.760 got to get like an air conditioner thing for your room, 0:12:05.960 --> 0:12:07.560 Like all these little tricks that you have to do 0:12:07.600 --> 0:12:08.240 to trys. Yeah. 0:12:08.280 --> 0:12:08.920 Yeah. 0:12:08.960 --> 0:12:11.560 And the problem is in La when it gets really hot, 0:12:11.640 --> 0:12:13.600 especially where you are where you live Roberto, it gets 0:12:13.640 --> 0:12:17.400 really hot. Yeah, it's impossible. You can't. It's just you 0:12:17.480 --> 0:12:20.679 cannot be comfortable. It's like being in the Sahara desert 0:12:20.800 --> 0:12:22.760 and trying to sleep at the hottest part of the day. 0:12:22.800 --> 0:12:25.839 It's just impossible to do it. And and then when 0:12:25.880 --> 0:12:28.000 you factor in your daughter. How old your daughter by 0:12:28.000 --> 0:12:29.319 the way, now she I haven't seen her in a 0:12:29.360 --> 0:12:33.760 couple so you're set up right. You're gonna you'll be 0:12:33.760 --> 0:12:36.079 able to be around her like and she's gonna remember 0:12:36.120 --> 0:12:39.439 everything now in the next few years are gonna be magical. 0:12:39.559 --> 0:12:42.920 So that's awesome. And and now you won't have to 0:12:43.000 --> 0:12:46.520 worry about leaving Dodger games early to get to the studio. 0:12:47.040 --> 0:12:50.400 Yeah exact, or went up to work that same day 0:12:50.400 --> 0:12:52.480 because you know, I went to a Dodger game. I 0:12:52.520 --> 0:12:54.559 got to go to a Dodger game and to go 0:12:54.600 --> 0:12:56.800 to sleep and wake up and go to work. Yeah, 0:12:56.800 --> 0:12:57.400 that would be great. 0:12:57.600 --> 0:12:59.679 Yeah, you can hang out at the ball but you 0:12:59.679 --> 0:13:01.520 don't have to leave earlier or anything like that. Yeah, 0:13:01.520 --> 0:13:06.920 you get that. As often as you want. I rode 0:13:06.960 --> 0:13:08.480 the bus, believe it or I probably think I'm like 0:13:08.520 --> 0:13:10.600 a rich kid. I didn't rode the bus, but my 0:13:10.640 --> 0:13:12.439 mom put me on the bus when I was a kid. 0:13:13.920 --> 0:13:16.680 In fact, one of my earliest memories i'll date myself, 0:13:17.080 --> 0:13:21.080 but I I broke my first news story. I broke. 0:13:21.320 --> 0:13:23.760 I was on the school bus coming back from elementary 0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:27.360 school and the school bus driver had the radio on 0:13:28.160 --> 0:13:32.160 and it was breaking news. Ronald Reagan had been shot. 0:13:32.480 --> 0:13:35.600 You know, I'd been yeah, they oh wow. And I 0:13:35.640 --> 0:13:37.360 remember I got off the bus and I was like, 0:13:37.640 --> 0:13:39.480 I'm like the boss. And I say, because I heard 0:13:39.559 --> 0:13:41.560 my my bus drivers listening to radio. So I said, mom, 0:13:41.600 --> 0:13:45.199 I heard the president was shot. And I remember telling 0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:46.960 her I was like, my first breaking new story. But 0:13:47.040 --> 0:13:49.040 now there's two kinds of bus driver. I guess there 0:13:49.080 --> 0:13:52.600 was probably three kinds of bus drivers. There's the mellow, 0:13:53.120 --> 0:13:57.160 kind of cool, do whatever you want kind of bus driver. Uh, 0:13:57.200 --> 0:13:59.800 there's the I really liked the kids bus driver, you 0:13:59.840 --> 0:14:01.920 know what, all the kids love the bus driver. And 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:08.920 then there's the asshole, disciplinarian, death spot type of bus driver. 0:14:10.200 --> 0:14:13.679 Question is Roberto, which kind of bus driver will you. 0:14:13.679 --> 0:14:18.040 Be it's a tough one because hear from some of these, uh, 0:14:18.720 --> 0:14:22.080 some of these people that I've talked to. You gotta 0:14:22.080 --> 0:14:25.600 be you gotta show the kids that you're you're you guys. 0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:28.280 Just set them like running to your run into your 0:14:28.280 --> 0:14:30.280 bus and have a free for all, because then they 0:14:30.520 --> 0:14:32.360 then they walk all over you. So you gotta like 0:14:33.200 --> 0:14:36.040 before the kids even go get on your bus, you 0:14:36.040 --> 0:14:40.120 gotta like say, line up, line up, line up, or 0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:42.320 you're not getting the bus. Let's you gotta be stern. 0:14:42.440 --> 0:14:44.680 So I kind of want to say I want to 0:14:44.720 --> 0:14:48.560 be the death spot, but knowing how I am, I 0:14:48.600 --> 0:14:50.080 don't know. I feel I feel like I might be 0:14:50.520 --> 0:14:53.240 in between the the death spot and the guy that 0:14:53.320 --> 0:14:55.000 lets them do everything. And I think that's who I'm 0:14:55.000 --> 0:14:55.360 gonna be. 0:14:55.600 --> 0:14:58.760 Yeah, you always smile. You always, you always have a smile. 0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:01.040 I love that even when things the last couple of 0:15:01.080 --> 0:15:03.000 years have been tough on you, and you've been trying, 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:06.040 you know, finding new work, and your sleep's been messed up, 0:15:06.080 --> 0:15:08.920 and you haven't spent enough time with your family, you 0:15:09.040 --> 0:15:11.280 still always have a big smile. I give you credit 0:15:11.360 --> 0:15:14.240 for that because it hasn't like burned you down, at 0:15:14.280 --> 0:15:17.000 least on the outside, it looks like you're you're still 0:15:17.080 --> 0:15:20.320 enjoying life, which which is nice. And then the other thing, REBERA, 0:15:20.440 --> 0:15:23.920 When you're a bus driver, there's not year round school, 0:15:23.960 --> 0:15:25.920 I don't think in la. So what are you gonna 0:15:25.920 --> 0:15:28.080 do during the summer? Do you have that all mapped 0:15:28.120 --> 0:15:29.880 out in your head what you're gonna be Because you're 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:33.000 gonna have like a great schedule, you actually have time off, 0:15:33.080 --> 0:15:35.240 like you're back in elementary school, but you still have 0:15:35.320 --> 0:15:37.000 bills to pay, So what the heck are you? 0:15:37.080 --> 0:15:41.520 Yeah? Yeah, so guess what they don't on a LAUSD. 0:15:41.600 --> 0:15:44.240 They don't if you want to do overtime, go ahead. 0:15:44.280 --> 0:15:46.960 They don't frown upon you working overtime. So if I 0:15:47.000 --> 0:15:49.440 got nothing to do, I'm gonna be working there driving 0:15:49.440 --> 0:15:52.240 a bus in the summertime for extra cash and making 0:15:52.320 --> 0:15:55.680 like sixty bucks an hour doing overtime. So that'll be 0:15:56.320 --> 0:15:58.960 absolutely pretty good. You know the thing about me, Ben 0:15:59.320 --> 0:16:02.840 unlike you to spend money, Ben, So that's that's that's 0:16:02.840 --> 0:16:04.560 the thing. Uh. And then I like I like my 0:16:04.600 --> 0:16:06.800 wife too, I can say because my wife, my wife 0:16:07.120 --> 0:16:09.320 tends to be you know, she's she's better with money 0:16:09.320 --> 0:16:12.160 than I am. And and she was she was making 0:16:12.240 --> 0:16:17.640 like she was making like like she was making about 0:16:18.080 --> 0:16:21.520 double double double double the pay that I make. So 0:16:22.200 --> 0:16:23.560 it was like it was that was one of the 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:25.360 reasons why I'm like, it's you know, I gotta I 0:16:25.360 --> 0:16:27.080 gotta step up, I gotta step up my game and 0:16:27.080 --> 0:16:29.080 I gotta break some more money home, because I like, 0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:30.760 I'm the one that likes to spend money. I'm the 0:16:30.800 --> 0:16:33.720 one that goes to Dodger games and like five beers. Well, 0:16:34.120 --> 0:16:36.960 she she won't even though she likes to drink her 0:16:37.320 --> 0:16:40.360 she likes to drink her her her self to drinks, 0:16:40.680 --> 0:16:42.760 she won't drink her shelter. I do' understand that because 0:16:42.760 --> 0:16:46.520 she frowns upon the price of being so expensive. So 0:16:46.520 --> 0:16:48.200 so that's another reason why, you know, if I have 0:16:48.280 --> 0:16:50.840 to work, you know, during the summertime, may get your money. 0:16:51.080 --> 0:16:54.040 I'll do it. But if you know, if if I 0:16:54.080 --> 0:16:57.680 have the capability of of you know, taking the whole 0:16:57.680 --> 0:17:00.600 summer off, that would be great. Also, me and my 0:17:00.680 --> 0:17:03.480 wife can actually maybe plan a trip next year in 0:17:03.520 --> 0:17:06.480 the summertime and actually be able to plan way ahead 0:17:06.480 --> 0:17:09.640 of time and be able to go off somewhere maybe 0:17:09.640 --> 0:17:10.199 who knows. 0:17:10.440 --> 0:17:13.000 Yeah, yeah, for sure. In fact, of all the people 0:17:13.080 --> 0:17:15.480 that have called the show over the years, the one 0:17:15.520 --> 0:17:17.919 that blows me away the most is this guy called Lance, 0:17:17.960 --> 0:17:20.520 the bus driver from there. Yeah, man, I told you 0:17:20.520 --> 0:17:23.159 about him, so yeah yeah. For those that don't know, 0:17:23.200 --> 0:17:25.000 if Lance calls the show every once in a while, 0:17:25.119 --> 0:17:28.560 not as much recently does his work schedule. But Lance 0:17:28.600 --> 0:17:32.320 has been a city bus driver in San Francisco for 0:17:32.600 --> 0:17:36.280 probably over twenty years at this point, maybe even longer 0:17:36.280 --> 0:17:38.360 than that. He's been calling the show off and on 0:17:38.440 --> 0:17:41.080 for close to twenty years. And he used to be 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:44.160 one of my regular guys and we'd spar back and forth, 0:17:44.200 --> 0:17:48.240 we'd get loggerheads. But Lance, he's living a better life 0:17:48.280 --> 0:17:51.239 than I'm living because he drives the bus. He's got 0:17:51.240 --> 0:17:53.840 a good, solid job. Now. The job is not easy 0:17:53.840 --> 0:17:56.359 because he has to drive through like the Tenderloin district 0:17:56.359 --> 0:18:00.320 of San Francisco, where every it's like zombie apocola whips 0:18:00.680 --> 0:18:03.879 uh yeah, and Francisco people ship on the street, they 0:18:03.880 --> 0:18:07.760 eat their own ship, they do drugs. It's terrible. But 0:18:07.760 --> 0:18:10.399 but his I think as his wife works for the 0:18:10.440 --> 0:18:14.240 airline and his son works in like the hotel business. 0:18:14.480 --> 0:18:17.840 So Lance will send me emails he'll be like on 0:18:17.880 --> 0:18:21.400 a random day in May, he'll be in Paris for 0:18:21.480 --> 0:18:25.480 the weekend because he gets free airfare and he can 0:18:25.520 --> 0:18:28.720 get pretty much free hotel rooms, so he travels the world. 0:18:28.720 --> 0:18:31.480 It's fascinating. So that's the next level. So you start 0:18:31.480 --> 0:18:35.080 out Roberto with the LA Unified School District, and then 0:18:35.119 --> 0:18:38.359 after that the next level. You then go go a 0:18:38.400 --> 0:18:40.280 little higher up and then you got to commit your 0:18:40.359 --> 0:18:43.439 daughter to work for the airline or a hotel and 0:18:43.480 --> 0:18:44.880 then you're then you're amazing. 0:18:44.960 --> 0:18:48.760 Oh yeah, Aaron, I'll be great, great, great right there. Yeah, 0:18:49.000 --> 0:18:53.360 you know, think about working in in the LAUSD. There's 0:18:53.400 --> 0:18:55.560 a lot of there's not a job, not a job, 0:18:55.600 --> 0:18:58.680 optunities to move up and do different stuff and still 0:18:58.720 --> 0:19:02.360 be able to enjoy way that that that schedule that 0:19:02.920 --> 0:19:04.480 the kids have, you know, when they go to school 0:19:04.520 --> 0:19:07.960 and stuff. So that's another reason why I chose to 0:19:07.960 --> 0:19:11.200 go this route, and because honestly, I looked at other 0:19:11.760 --> 0:19:14.680 radio jobs and they just don't pay, don't don't pay, 0:19:14.920 --> 0:19:17.720 don't pay well anymore. Man, it's just not like it's 0:19:17.800 --> 0:19:18.679 not like it used to be. 0:19:19.480 --> 0:19:22.439 Yeah, it's not. It's not a great time any the radio, 0:19:22.880 --> 0:19:24.480 you know. I don't know how A lot of the 0:19:24.520 --> 0:19:27.439 guys do it. And it's tough too, because it'd be 0:19:27.440 --> 0:19:30.600 one thing if we were like my brother lives in Appleton, Wisconsin, 0:19:31.280 --> 0:19:33.800 and you'd probably be fine. The cost of living though 0:19:33.880 --> 0:19:39.160 in Los Angeles, Yeah, sane, and there's no end insight, right, 0:19:39.200 --> 0:19:41.160 you know, every summer the gas gets up to six 0:19:41.240 --> 0:19:46.240 dollars a gallon. It's it's ridiculous. Uh, the cost of everything, 0:19:46.359 --> 0:19:48.000 Nicol and Dimi and everything. 0:19:48.000 --> 0:19:51.800 With everything, with the bills to pay groceries. Uh yeah, 0:19:51.840 --> 0:19:55.240 it's it's it's fucking tough to to live in l A. 0:19:55.840 --> 0:19:56.600 In Los Angeles. 0:19:56.640 --> 0:19:57.879 It's a lot of money. 0:19:58.119 --> 0:19:59.879 Everything is going up and up and up, and the 0:20:00.080 --> 0:20:02.280 to seem to come down at all. 0:20:02.400 --> 0:20:06.720 Well, everything goes up except you know, yes, exactly. But 0:20:06.840 --> 0:20:09.040 I think that's across the board. I don't. I think 0:20:09.080 --> 0:20:11.520 that's in almost every profession. 0:20:11.560 --> 0:20:11.679 Now. 0:20:11.720 --> 0:20:14.200 The other thing I wanted to address here, so this 0:20:14.920 --> 0:20:18.320 your move to leave the ben Malers show, Roberto and 0:20:18.359 --> 0:20:20.840 go and become a school bus. Forever we've known about it, 0:20:20.960 --> 0:20:24.760 kind of off off the air. We've had an inkling. 0:20:24.800 --> 0:20:26.439 You told us you kept us in the loop. You 0:20:26.440 --> 0:20:28.720 were very cool about that. We appreciate it. You kind 0:20:28.720 --> 0:20:31.600 of told us what your plan was and you you 0:20:31.680 --> 0:20:34.640 weren't sure one hundred percent, so we didn't say anything. 0:20:34.920 --> 0:20:38.360 I check that I didn't say anything. Now, Eddie, how 0:20:38.359 --> 0:20:41.440