Spring Break Meltdown in Amanda's Anxiety Village

Spring Break 2026: board game chaos, disappointing zoo visit, the Game of Life, the “dog hair” verdict, the trampoline park fire, a bad haircut, a miniature anxiety village, “possess me”, quitting Amazon and other shenanigans.

Write us at familiarwilsons at gmail.com.

Thanks to Ricky Kendall for our music!

Super Familiar with The Wilsons 
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Transcript

Measles Campground Cold Open

Josh 0:00

Measles Campground.

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Like a KOA.

Josh 0:03

Join your friends at the Measles Campground this summer.

SPEAKER_00 0:08

I wanna be super familiar. Don't be stranger.

Amanda 0:22

Welcome to Super Familiar with the Wilsons. I'm Amanda.

Josh 0:24

And I'm Josh, and we're the podcast about marriage 2.0 with kids. And SideQuest. Amanda, why are you so grumpy?

Amanda 0:31

I am grumpy.

Josh 0:33

Well, let's just get it all out. Let's get it out of the way. Why are you grumpy?

Amanda 0:37

Well, first of all, why I'm not grumpy. I had a wonderful week on spring break, and I cleaned some, though looking at my kitchen counter right now, you cannot tell. And I crafted some and I took the kids to the zoo in IKEA and it was a lovely time.

The Game Of Life Goes Off Rails

Josh 0:51

Well, you say that you had a lovely time during spring break, but these are the texts that I got from you on Monday, first day of spring break. First, I get I had to give$5,000 to charity.

Amanda 1:03

You freaked out for and I said, Wait, what?

Josh 1:05

She says, I only have$3,500.

Amanda 1:09

I had to borrow money from the bank to pay the charity.

Josh 1:11

Okay.

Amanda 1:12

And it was compulsory.

Josh 1:13

Yes. And then I said, What kind of weird socialist game are you playing? And then that's when you tell me that you're playing the 1960s version of the game of life. You then go on to tell me that our child, Winthrop, has$319,000 that he will not give to you or loan to you or anything. Then you follow that up with, I was just forced to adopt twins.

Amanda 1:36

I had to adopt twins. It made me.

Josh 1:39

Then you say Muffy is a single mother with five children. And I'm thinking, it's only Monday of spring break. Then you say Winthrop is in Millionaire Acres and just waiting for Muffy and I to finish the game to see how badly he's beaten us.

Amanda 1:53

Yeah, but then he wound up losing.

Josh 1:56

I also just earned$50,000 for climbing Mount Everest.

Amanda 1:59

Yes.

Josh 2:00

And you said now she has seven kids. I'm wondering if Everest has something to do with that. You say they didn't fit in her car, but the game instruction says if you get more kids than you have space in your car, just crowd them in as you do in real life.

Amanda 2:15

That's from the real instructions. I put quotes around that. That is how it is in the game of life. So Muffy for Christmas bought us the game of life, but bought us the original version. It was like a 50th anniversary or there's more than that. 80th. I can't do the math. Doesn't matter.

Josh 2:30

And clearly it's not accurate to the original version because, first of all, you were apparently allowed to drive a car and you didn't have to, you know, have your husband co-signer your bank account. I just is not the original game.

Amanda 2:44

I think women were allowed to drive in the 60s, but it's okay. But Winthrop got so mad at me and Muffy. I started out so poor because I decided the kids went the college route and I went the business route.

SPEAKER_01 2:56

Yeah.

Amanda 2:57

And I decided that I was gonna, you know, prove that you could not have a college degree. Don't know why I thought I needed to do that.

Josh 3:03

Don't try to prove that point to our daughters in the midst of college.

Amanda 3:07

Well, it's okay because Winthrop became an attorney, God help us. I my business was I was a contest winner. So I just maybe that's why I climbed Everest. I don't know. And anyway, but Winthrop went straight to Millionaire Acres and waited. Muffy and I went the long way because we played the board game the wrong way. So we had more time. We had more time to uh accumulate more wealth. And so Muffy wound up winning and I came in second and he was pissed.

Josh 3:38

But that's called cheating, is what you did. You gave yourself more opportunities to win the game by playing it the wrong way.

Amanda 3:44

Yeah, apparently there are paths that cross over each other, and we didn't realize they had colored dotted lines, so you just had to keep going on your path, and we thought it was like a fork in the road, so we kept going different ways. This is not the way the game decided for us. This is why she had seven children. Anyway, that was day one, and that's when we had tornadoes like hanging out in the area, too. So and the lights were flickering on and off. It was a thing.

Josh 4:09

We had a tornado watch, which doesn't mean we had tornadoes. Let's not go crazy.

Zoo Hype And IKEA Flat Surfaces

Amanda 4:14

Tornado watch. Anyway, it was the rest of the week was great. Took the kids to the Jacksonville zoo. Winthrop was upset because he thought it was going to be, quote, more modern than it was.

Josh 4:23

What does that mean?

Amanda 4:24

Well, they just built a new like$70 million manatee critical care center. So when you walk in, it looks really new, right? Because it's this brand new thing.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

Okay.

Amanda 4:35

But then the rest of the zoo is not. And he was sorely disappointed by all of this. He was not in he was not impressed by any animals. There was no ride for him to go on. He rode a carousel and he wrote a train. That was it. We left. We went to IKEA. He made it his mission to find every flat surface he could to possibly lie on. It's okay.

Josh 4:54

Which is a problem because IKEA is nothing but flat surfaces. No, so that they sell flat surfaces.

Homemade Waffles Taste Like Dog

Amanda 4:59

It made it, he actually told me that was the best part of spring break was going to IKEA, which is fine. But the reason I'm grumpy right now is because I decided with uh grocery prices being as high as they are, I am going to take an hour out of my morning. I am going to make homemade waffles for these children, homemade chocolate chip waffles and my little waffle maker. I'm going to make a batch that I can stick in the freezer, will last the whole week. I don't have to pay Ego anything, right? So I make these waffles. He asks me for two of them. I give him two of them. He eats them and then says, These taste like dog hair. I don't like them.

Josh 5:36

All right. So they are over there on the counter. I'm going to go get one and we're going to see if it tastes like dog hair. Because I've not yet tasted it.

Amanda 5:44

Okay. If it tastes like dog hair, then I don't know what to do. Maybe he had a dog hair in his mouth already. Maybe there was dog hair in the waffle iron, which I didn't see. I do not believe that there was dog hair in the waffle iron. What is wrong with you? Does it taste really bad? I ate one. It was good. Why are you covering your mouth?

Josh 6:03

I want you to smell this.

Amanda 6:06

I ate one. It was fine. It smells like waffle and chocolate. Well, that's all I'm making for the whole week. Lunch, dinner, whatever. You jokers are eating that, or you're figuring it out on your own.

Josh 6:20

It smells like wet dogs.

Amanda 6:21

No, it does not. It smells like waffle and chocolate.

Josh 6:25

Okay. I I'm gonna I let me do this. Sometimes things smell different than they taste. So I'm gonna taste you. I am an impartial judge. I am here for you.

Amanda 6:35

You're not impartial. You picked that joker up and gagged when you smelled it.

Josh 6:38

Yes, but I wasn't expecting to gag. Okay, but I'm here both for you and for my son. So we're gonna see. I'm not gonna take a bite of this without any sort of toppings, sans accoutrement, and we're gonna see.

Amanda 6:54

You just spit it back in your hand? What is wrong with you?

Josh 6:57

Well, maybe maybe maybe I now just have the idea of dog hair in my head. I don't know, but thank you for making these for the dorm with Muffy when she goes back tomorrow.

Amanda 7:08

Because uh don't tell her though. Blue key, don't you tell her if you're listening that there's dog hair in that? Screw you all. There's probably something was the on the waffle iron. I don't know, but I'm now I'm sad. I cried before we started recording, I'm gonna cry again.

Backyard Cleanup And Emotional Overload

Josh 7:26

Okay, well why'd you cry before the recording?

Amanda 7:31

Because I just want the backyard cleaned up.

Josh 7:33

Okay, and we're gonna go do that after this. Well, because I don't want you to hurt yourself.

Amanda 7:39

So I was thinking about this. The last time that I like totally redid the backyard by myself was when you were in England with the Belsons.

SPEAKER_01 7:46

Yes.

Amanda 7:46

And I put down a fence and I mulched all the stuff and I planted it, it was really beautiful. Yes. But I also slashed the hell out of my thumb with um the garden trowel thingy that I was using and it had dirt in it and got infected. So I mean, fair enough. I can't be left alone.

Josh 8:02

I mean, your reaction was reminds me of Winthrop when he was three, and he threw himself on the ground because I wouldn't let him play in the street. Yes.

Amanda 8:12

Yes. Yes. So I want to help out in the yard, but I am also a danger to myself and others.

Josh 8:18

No, mostly to yourself. You're you're pretty wonderful to others. So, folks, we've been getting a lot of good feedback past three episodes, three weeks, three guests. If we record with someone, we either try to go to a special place, like with uh Mr. Gainesville, we went to my favorite bar, and then with uh with the embalmer lady and with Colin, we came here and we kind of do it up. So that takes a toll. So this week, no guests.

Amanda 8:46

Just me, Josh, my tears, and the podcast dog.

Josh 8:50

But do go listen to the last three episodes. Uh, they're really, really interesting, really, really cool folks. And we're gonna do more of that because I I do like bringing another person into our relationship.

Amanda 9:00

We've already said polyamory isn't a thing.

Josh 9:02

It is the end of spring break. It's why I'm grumpy. That is why uh we're all grumpy.

Amanda 9:09

You don't want to go back nowhere. Lyndurb's not gonna want to go to school in the morning either. It's gonna be so bad.

Josh 9:15

Are you about to cry again?

Flip Factory Fire And Kid Rage

Amanda 9:16

I might. Tears running down my face. Do you know how he gets really mad in the morning? I don't want to go to school.

Josh 9:25

Oh, he was pissed at you yesterday, wasn't he?

Amanda 9:27

He's pissed at me all the time.

Josh 9:29

Yeah, but yesterday you took him to a place and Oh God, he was so mad at me.

Amanda 9:34

So we have threw his socks at me.

Josh 9:36

We we have a it's a a trampoline park in town. And you already feel like I made you take him there.

Amanda 9:44

You did.

Josh 9:45

I didn't make you take him there.

Amanda 9:46

You said I'm gonna go to the movies with Muffy and mommy's gonna take you to Flip Factory without talking to mommy about what she was doing.

Josh 9:54

Now, see, we this is that's dishonest of you because we did have the conversation before where you said that you are gonna take him to Flip Factory this week.

Amanda 10:02

What I said the day before was Winthrop wants to go to Flip Factory. Is that something we want to do tomorrow? And what you said was, I wish he had a friend he could do that with. The end of that conversation. There was no, yes, let's go together. There was no, you go do that and I'll go do this. Muffy asked you, started to ask you about a movie. You stopped and said, wait, what are your plans? Do you want to go see this movie? So that you know, she got the joy of you asking to do something with her, and then turned around and looked at Winthrop and said, Mommy's gonna take you to Flip Factory while Muffy and I go to this movie.

Josh 10:39

Well, because I what I heard from you was that you were gonna take him to Flip Factory this weekend.

Amanda 10:44

What you heard never came out of my mouth.

Josh 10:47

Anyway.

Amanda 10:47

And then I tried to make the neighbors go with us, but Kate was off, couldn't go, and and Tony, I think, just pretended like he didn't hear any of my words.

Josh 10:56

So you take him to Flip Factory.

Amanda 10:58

We pull up to the parking lot, get there, and there's three cars in the parking lot. I'm like, this is either really great or this is not right. There is caution tape at the front of the thing. There is a printed out, you know, real quick. I printed this on my printer sign that says close today, and giant fans in the doorway. I look it up, turns out Flip Factory caught on fire the night before. The bumper car area specifically. That's all I know. That's all I could find. But Winthrop was pissed and he cried, and it's not fair. And we used to have two trampoline parks, but the other one closed. So now we have zero trampoline parks. He took off his shoes and threw his trampoline park socks at me, the branded Flip Factory socks at me in the front seat because somehow I have done this to him. So then now while you and Muffy are at the movies just watching away whatever, I have to figure out where we're going and then proceed to just entertain him for the next four hours.

Josh 11:58

Which you did very well. You took him to the park, made him get a haircut, you taught him about the N-word.

Amanda 12:05

I had to. I took him to play basketball yesterday at our local park. You said we didn't have a basketball. I believed you. We went to Target, I got him a basketball, came home. We have a basketball already, now we own two basketballs. And so we went to the local park, and there were two guys, they were older, maybe in their like their 30s, playing each other, but fought the whole time. They were just like, No, I I have one point, you have none. But I mean, loudly and angrily at each other having this argument and calling each other the N-word, which they have every right to do. But then I have to explain to him that that word is not okay for any anyone, shape, or form other than the African-American black community to use. We do not use that word. Uh, they have every right to use that word, but we cannot use that word. And he said, I don't even know what it means. So then I didn't really go into what it meant, just that it was if we say it, it is really, really derogatory and not okay for us to use. And so I just, God, my day. Like I thought you and I went to breakfast yesterday and we talked about the day. I thought we were gonna walk in the yard, I thought we were gonna work in the office, and I could work on my little houses, and then all of a sudden, I'm at a park trying to explain racial dynamics while you're at the movies, and I've been throwing socks at my head. I didn't like it.

Josh 13:29

Just to make you feel better, the trailer section of my movie experience went a little bit too long, and I was really annoyed. I want to get to the movie.

Amanda 13:39

I'm not saying anything because what I want to say to you is not kind.

Crafting A Village For Anxiety

Josh 13:45

So tell our friends about how you build the gnome houses now.

Amanda 13:50

They're not gnome houses. I am building um a village. I have three houses that I got from Michaels, and right now I'm working on the church. I'm going to make a little Christmas village. Although I am at um an impasse with Winthrop a little bit because he wants one of the houses. And I think I originally told him he could have one, and now I don't want him to have it because he's he's just gonna throw some paint on it and be done with it. Like if he would actually take his time, I'd share it with him. So then I went back to Michael's to see if I could get another set, and they don't make them anymore. So now I can't give him the small one because I need it for my village. It's gonna be a bookstore.

Josh 14:25

I'm just really impressed that you've grabbed onto this little hobby where you're you're you have these plain houses that you buy from the craft store, you're painting them in all different ways. You've actually you've gotten balsa wood, I guess, and you're making shingles at your life.

SPEAKER_04 14:40

I shingled the roof of that thing.

Josh 14:42

Very impressed. Now, I did notice that you do you are making a church, but are you gonna make other houses of worship as well?

Amanda 14:49

Well, I had not considered that because what I'm doing is basically a Victorian village, and I don't know, I mean, other than the Anglican church, what else do what else do we have in in England?

Josh 15:02

Well, I don't know, but you also need to have the the bleak orphanage in somewhere for the people with smallpox to gather.

Amanda 15:10

Yes, did you know when I was playing the Game of Life, the 1960s edition?

Josh 15:13

Did you get smallpox?

Amanda 15:15

No, but if you there was a there was a square that if you landed on it and you did not have a child, you had to pay$50,000 for the orphanage. Why?

SPEAKER_04 15:25

Of course.

Amanda 15:26

Why do all what do you mean, of course? All of the childless people have to pay for all of the children that don't have families?

Josh 15:32

I mean, don't you believe in a society that cares for other people?

Amanda 15:35

Yes, I do, and currently don't live in one. So I didn't know what to do with that idea.

Josh 15:40

Okay, so anyway, you make these cute little houses. You're doing it for a Christmas village for next year, right?

Amanda 15:46

Yeah, I'm doing it because I just need to put all of my anxiety about the world somewhere. I have redone the roof of this church seven times because I can't figure out what I want with it. Really, that's probably just uh um an analogy for what I can't figure out about life. I will say though, I don't need a smallpox gathering because we currently have a measles outbreak here in Florida. So I'll just put a measles campground or something.

Josh 16:12

Measles campground.

Amanda 16:14

Like a KOA.

Josh 16:15

Join your MOA, join your friends at the measles campground this summer. One of the things that you said you did was you went and bought Winthrop cleats for uh soccer or football, depending on what side of the ocean you're on. Winthrop's starting football again, and we're very, very excited.

Amanda 16:32

Yes, to clarify, not American football. We did. We went and got some cleats. He's a size four now, which shocked the mess out of me. He like all of a sudden has become like this big kid.

Josh 16:41

Yeah, he's definitely changed the way that he's talked within the last three weeks. He's definitely grown up like three years within the last three weeks, and I don't know what it is.

Amanda 16:49

I don't know what it is either, but he's also a lot more polite.

Josh 16:52

Sometimes.

Amanda 16:53

Except when he's yelling at me about how my my things taste like dog hair. And and after he said this thing about the dog hair, I was in the laundry room, which is off the kitchen in the kitchen, living room, dining room, all big one space. I was in the laundry room, the pocket door was open, but my head was in the washing machine. Not because I've had it all and it can't take it anymore, but because I was getting, I'm short, and I when I lean over the top loading thing, my feet dangle. Like I have to reach down in there and get the clothes.

Josh 17:20

I've never seen that. Can we do after that? Can I go see your feet dangling as you're hanging over the?

Amanda 17:26

I do, I cannot touch the ground and reach the bottom of the washing machine at the same time. It is not a thing I can do. Anyway, so I'm getting the laundry out and he's yelling at me or he's trying to ask me a question. And I'm like, buddy, I'm in the laundry room. You're gonna have to hang on. I cannot hear you. And he said, You know, I don't have patience. And I said, then calm here and talk to me. And he said, I don't want to. Well, no. So then I said, Well, then you're gonna have to wait. And he said, You know, I don't have patience. We went through this thing back and forth. I said, You're gonna need to find some. And then he said, Wait, mom. And I said, What? He goes, Can you hear me? I said, Yes. And he goes, Okay, then I can just talk to you. Because like he realized that I was having this back and forth with him when I said I couldn't hear him. And I said, Nope, my head's in the washing machine, can't hear you anymore.

Josh 18:07

Two mature people having a conversation.

Amanda 18:11

All he wanted was for me to look at his Minecraft player and to tell him which hair was more like his current haircut.

Josh 18:19

Which, by the way, you don't like.

Amanda 18:21

I don't like it because it was growing out, and I took him to this lady who was supposed to make it better because he still wants it long. I just wanted it cleaned up, and now she's made him look like Maisie Adams. It's not good, and now I don't know what to do because he like didn't want a haircut, and I should have just listened, and I told him we needed to get it cleaned up. And then now I don't like it, and I'm having this whole thing about like he should have bodily autonomy where it counts, and I now I feel like I took his autonomy away, and I don't know. I'm just I'm just so I'm just so tired.

Josh 18:51

This is you're coming off of a week off. You're going to work tomorrow, and what I'm getting from you is that you are just frickin' exhausted.

Amanda 19:00

It's fine. We're all fine. It's all fine. Just move along, we're fine.

Josh 19:03

Well, you buried the lead there, and that is that soccer is starting next week.

Amanda 19:07

Oh, right, I forgot about that. I understand.

Josh 19:09

This is I feel like this is a bit of a therapy session.

Amanda 19:12

Just for me.

Josh 19:14

Just for you. And I don't know, folks out there, are you able to relate with any of these things that Amanda is is spouting off about? Or are you just listening to this lady saying, You're what is your problem? What let us know. Right in familiarwilsons at gmail.com.

Amanda 19:30

Would really suggest that you only let us know if you empathize with me.

Josh 19:34

Either that or have an anonymous email name. Dan Belton. Because Amanda will find you. And she won't hurt you. She'll just sit here and you'll just get hours more of just this. Just conversation zinging and winging all over the place. Never a thread that you know stays in one place so very long, just going all over the place.

Amanda 20:01

You act like someone who's not gonna live here for the rest of your life.

Josh 20:04

Oh, I'll live here for the rest of my life. It's just uncertain how long that life is gonna be gonna be now. I'm gonna hide the knives and the noxious chemicals before I go to sleep.

Amanda 20:15

I'll just kill you with dog hair waffles, it'll be fine.

Josh 20:17

Yeah, yeah, that would kill me too. Yucca gross.

SPEAKER_02 20:24

I have shoes made out of cheese, they make me feel so good. They roll to my feet like good shoes, shooter. They're not made of suede or five pat leather, they're made of the finest sharp a shutter.

Josh 20:50

Speaking of houses of worship, we were driving along to breakfast yesterday, and I saw this bumper sticker, and I swear to you, what it said was Jesus, I love you, possess me.

Amanda 21:04

Yes, it did.

Josh 21:06

Now, I am not here to talk about anything except for if you are part of a religion and you don't want to seem like a cult, then find the people who are making bumper stickers like this and say, Stop that. If you don't want to seem like you're in a cult, then stop doing culty things like having bumper stickers that say, Possess me.

Amanda 21:29

Yeah, maybe just don't use the word possess at all.

Josh 21:31

Very weird.

Amanda 21:32

Well, I mean, I grew up in a religious tradition in which we talked about demon possessions, like they would cast demons out of people at my church services. So, like, and and and the kids would get around and tell demon stories to each other. Instead of ghost stories, we would tell demon stories.

Josh 21:48

I mean, I grew up in the church too, and possess me was never a thing.

Amanda 21:52

Right, but I'm saying you didn't grow up in what I grew up in.

Josh 21:54

No, no, no. Possession was never a thing for the good ones. Yes, the ones on the right side. Demon possessions and the actual Exorcists and floating above the bed and pea soup coming out of the mouth and all that. I mean, we don't have to stick on this point. I'm just this is my public service announcement. To those of you out there listening who belong to a church and and don't want people to be scared of you, don't have anything on your car that uses the word possession in some sort of way that makes them think that that you're fine. Come on in.

Amanda 22:22

No, this is why you're not supposed to do yoga.

Josh 22:25

What?

Amanda 22:25

This is what was taught to me as I was growing up. You're not supposed to do yoga because you clear or meditate, because you clear and empty your mind, and that's when you can be possessed. So they're they're they're inviting the good possession as well, but that's just scary. Don't do that.

Josh 22:38

I remember my dad who was never never particularly religious, although he did send me to church and to Christian school. But he was never particularly religious. He he had a friend who was into transcendental meditation. Okay. My dad was the type of guy, like the next big thing, he would grab onto it and proselytize about it until he didn't. Yeah. Until he was over it and he thought it was rubbish. So for a period about two weeks, his friend was telling him about the transcendental meditation, and he my dad would just pass this material on to me, like, hey, you should try this. My friend says it's great. I took it to uh to church and told the people there, and they you would have thought that I had brought the satanic Bible, yes, you know, with a bloody dagger sticking out of it, and then taking it up on the altar and then peed in front of the whole congregation. Because the look that they gave me was like, this is radioactive.

Amanda 23:32

Were you a student at this time or were you like on staff?

Josh 23:36

Oh no, no, no, no. I was a kid. I was a kid, I was like in early teens.

Amanda 23:39

Um, so did they pray for you?

Life After Quitting Amazon

Josh 23:41

Uh I don't remember. I don't remember. I was embarrassed. And I took it home and said, Dad, I'm not interested. Thanks. Bye. My word of advice to you, Christians, don't be begging for possession. That's all I'm saying. Here's another update, though. The Wilsons have stopped using Amazon. Now, I'm here to tell you what a seismic difference that is in our lives, how big of a change that is in our lives. We decided, because we don't agree with some of the decisions that Amazon Corporate partakes in, that we would just stop having Amazon deliver to our house. Now, this has gone from one, two deliveries a day to no deliveries for the past month and a half.

Amanda 24:37

Okay, one, two deliveries a day is during the holidays. Like that, let's just go ahead and say that. But we were getting at least once a week, I think. So but either you were ordering something for work or Muffy was ordering something or I was ordering something. Somebody was always ordering something. And we have not ordered from Amazon in almost two months now.

Josh 24:54

Now, how has this affected your life?

Amanda 24:56

It has made it difficult in ways that I'm trying not to support big box stores. So don't agree with Walmart, don't agree with what's going on with Target and their DEI positions. And so looking for I like I needed a food processor for some recipes that I needed, and I could not find one. I was told that Best Buy had them, so I went to Best Buy, and the only one they had was like the$200, like really expensive one. So I did, I caved and I got one at Target, but it's become hard, I've tried to go straight to manufacturers for things. And and so I'm really feeling the what the ordering online has done to the availability of retail stores in the area, like getting things for my little houses. I miss Joann's terribly. Those have closed here. Um, Michael's can't have everything that I want, don't want to go to Hobby Lobby. And so I'm it is impacting me in a way that is absolutely a first world problem. But I realize now how badly these online big box retailers have impacted my ability to buy local or buy straight from creators because even Etsy, which used to be this artisan marketplace, is now mostly third-party sellers. And it's it's it's difficult. Now, clothing-wise, it's not a problem for me because I have gone to just straight buying secondhand clothes. Yeah. I either order from Poshmark or Depop or I do consignment here in town. I've just in the past week or so have made like$50 selling stuff out of the closet and stuff for like$9 a shirt because I it's just sitting in my closet. So I make$6 off of it and it adds up. So it's clothing-wise not affecting me, but it's it's it's also become hard with food, right? Like we've tried the meal delivery kits because it's supposed to offset the carbon, the carbon footprint's supposed to offset with the food waste, but that's not really working. And um groceries have become absolutely prohibitive. The prices I know I could get it cheaper if we went to Sam's or Walmart, but then we're back at these big box stores again. I can't get everything at Trader Joe's, and so I'm and then Whole Foods is is Amazon. So it's it's really got me stuck in this this thing.

Josh 27:16

Yeah, stop. I have the answer. I know the answer.

Amanda 27:18

What is it?

Josh 27:19

We are gonna develop this garden that we have the side of our house so that we can have all of our vegetables, which honestly, we should be eating, I should be eating more vegetables. I will if if I grow them by the sweat of my brow. Maybe get a goat or two. I'm not eating goat. Or a small, no, for milk, or a small cow. How about a a small teacup cow?

Amanda 27:42

I don't think they make teacup cows, but I want a I want a Highland Ku. Can I have a Highland Ku?

Josh 27:47

I don't know what that means.

Amanda 27:48

That's a Highland cow, but that's how they say it in Scotland. They're the furry ones with the long hair.

Josh 27:52

Okay, maybe we should just get a couple chickens because I love me some eggs. So there's my protein. The only thing we'd have to go buy is dollar cans of beans, and then we're set.

Amanda 28:02

You can't grow your own black beans.

Josh 28:03

Can we? I mean, somehow.

Amanda 28:05

How do you grow black beans? Somebody does it. Do you think they just birth them in the can?

Josh 28:09

I don't know. Maybe they come out of the cow. I don't know. They don't. What that's all I'm saying is that we just need to become farmers, like of our tiny plot, and then bada bing, bada boom, don't.

Amanda 28:19

I don't know that our neighbors would love us having chickens.

Josh 28:22

Why?

Amanda 28:22

I give them a all the time chicken noise. Huh? All the time chicken noise.

Josh 28:28

Let's start with one chicken.

Amanda 28:30

Okay, you know who that's gonna drive absolutely insane.

Josh 28:33

Who?

Amanda 28:33

The dog. Because he will know there are chickens out there. And he will never stop bargaining.

Josh 28:38

He's gonna become farmers and then we'll sell our wares at the farmer's market. Or maybe we can barter an egg for a matcha. I don't know. And then we got it all sorted out.

SPEAKER_04 28:49

Okay.

Josh 28:50

Done.

SPEAKER_04 28:50

It's gonna take a while to grow those things, but when are you gonna get started?

Josh 28:53

Uh, today after we record. Oh, good. Okay. All right. Done. Solved. We've wandered away from the point again, of course, and that is that you might consider giving Amazon a rest for a while, seeing how that impacts your life and seeing how that changes how you need to do things, if for nothing else than to take you off of autopilot and make you aware of how much you're consuming. Because it's not just the fact that you're buying for Amazon, and so therefore, when we do that, we cripple local businesses and smaller businesses. But it's also, you know, sure we can get cheap stuff, but what's the cost to the environment? You know, the AI that Amazon uses to make their operations happen, all the fuel that's expended, all of the pollution that is from the fuel that that's expended, all the cardboard boxes. My God, the amount of cardboard boxes we had over the holiday season. I could have started my own cardboard box recycling business.

SPEAKER_04 29:54

You should have.

Josh 29:55

No, I don't know what I would have turned them into. More cardboard boxes, paper? I don't know. Not the point. The point is that is that I've become more aware of how much we use Amazon when we don't use Amazon.

Amanda 30:07

That's all. Well, I've also become aware of the need versus want.

Josh 30:11

Yes.

Amanda 30:11

More so because it's easy when you've got prime and it's not going to cost you anything to ship it. And you know, it's like, oh, I would like this thing. Let me order it. Now it's like, well, it's going to be an effort for me to go find it. Do I really want it? Do I really need it? Is it worth the hassle?

Josh 30:27

Also, the reason why I'm cross with Amazon is because our Amazon device, which will remain nameless, spoiled the next season of the Great Pottery throwdown for us.

Amanda 30:39

Or the one that just ended.

Josh 30:40

Yeah, the one that we haven't watched it. So we were trying to figure out what season we were on, because we're not on the latest season, we're on the season before, and we were looking for it on YouTube. So in order to figure out our lives, Amanda asked the device, you know, what the current season of was, and it answered, the current season is blah blah blah blah blah. And it was won by Ben from Cornwall. So we did not ask the machine this question, and so it spoiled that season for us, and it didn't have to do that. And I was very upset. Very upset. I mean, what the hell is that?

Amanda 31:18

This is when I need to be able to have an aside with the audience that you can't hear.

Josh 31:23

Oh, go ahead.

Amanda 31:24

She didn't say Ben, and it is the season that we're watching, but there's no Ben because that's not what she said. She said Finn.

Josh 31:31

Finn wins?

Amanda 31:32

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 31:33

Oh, why did you tell me that? Now you've spoiled it for me. What did you just do? I'm sitting there railing. That screwed it up for me. And it wasn't spoiled for you screwed it up. Why did you do that?

Amanda 31:54

Because I needed to tell the audience a secret. And you told me to go ahead and tell it. But you like Finn.

Josh 32:01

Oh my God. All right, folks. That's our show. I gotta tell you, we started right before this recording. We started to sit down to record and got into a big argument, right? And then I thought we were all done with the argument. Now I see that Amanda was playing the long game and she just got back at me.

Amanda 32:24

This is my version of you putting googly eyes on me.

Josh 32:26

Yeah. Awesome.

SPEAKER_02 32:46

No one likes to be told what to do.

Josh 32:49

And now is the time in the program where we tell you what to do. Amanda, what should we do?

Amanda 32:53

I am going to suggest that you head on over to, I actually don't know what it streams on because I get it on Direct TV, RJ Decker, which is Scott Speedman's new vehicle.

Josh 33:04

It is um Scott Speedsman's new vehicle means nothing to me.

Amanda 33:09

Scott Speedman's new show?

Josh 33:11

Who's Scott Speedman?

Amanda 33:12

Oh, oh. Okay, Felicity Girlies, where are you? Scott Speedman's an actor, but he was Felicity's love interest on the Carrie Russell show that I love so much. Anyway, doesn't matter. It's based on a book by Carl Hyacon. Am I saying that correctly? Who tell us who he is. His name is Carl Hyeson, was a writer, is a writer who specifically writes Florida stories, right?

Josh 33:36

I mean, most of them are, yes.

Amanda 33:37

Set in South Florida. Florida Man is a big part of the show. And so if you at all want to know what it's like to live in the Fort Lauderdale area or just the special something that comes with being a Floridian and are interested in like detective procedurals, I would suggest going over, I think that it's ABC, but I'm not sure. And check out RJ Decker. It's like Magnum, but Florida instead of Hawaii.

Josh 34:06

I well, don't say that now. I loved Magnum. That was one of my favorite TV shows growing up.

Amanda 34:10

You might love this. You won't watch it.

Josh 34:12

I have another audiobook to recommend. I recommended Fern Brady's audiobook, Strong Female Character, last week of the week before. And great, great book. I just finished listening to Bob Mortimer's autobiography called And Away.

SPEAKER_04 34:27

Yeah.

Josh 34:27

And very, very interesting. A lot of things about Bob I did not know. And for those of you who out there who do not know who Bob Mortimer is, well, get on that because he's a very funny comedian. Um and he is on the latest season of Last One Laughing. And that's also another one.

Amanda 34:43

Well, he was on the first season of it, too. So watch that one too.

Josh 34:46

Yeah. I was that a spoiler. I think that maybe it may have been a spoiler.

Amanda 34:50

No, he was just it was on it both times.

Josh 34:51

All right. Anyway, so um the book is called And Away. The author is Bob Mortimer, and I recommend the audiobook version, of course, because he reads it. And it's I've never heard this in the audiobook before. He makes mistakes, he coughs. He starts over. And I don't know whether it was like he's recording it, he's like, We're doing one take. We're doing one take and today, and I this is all the time I've booked for this, and you're just gonna have to deal. Or if the people I mean, I guess it had to be an intentional choice. What I'd hate to think is that they had that stuff in there and an intern just didn't listen through like they were supposed to. But anyway, it's a great, great book, and it's a great audiobook. And I've really gotten into audiobooks.

SPEAKER_04 35:35

Yeah. Oh, they are.

Josh 35:37

Which I've never I had never listened through one before, I don't think, all the way through, except for these last two when I have. So anyway, that's my recommendation. Both audiobooks in general and then Bob Mortimer's book. There you go.

Amanda 35:49

End away.

Josh 36:09

I'm not gonna ask you what you thought of that mess.

SPEAKER_04 36:11

I'll start crying again.

Josh 36:12

We're just gonna move along. Folks, if you want to send Amanda any messages of encouragement, as I she's clearly had a very, very tough week off of work. Familiar Wilsons at G Miller.

Amanda 36:23

I'm gonna cry. I don't know why. It's really bad. Okay. It's not been a bad week off of work. I'm just, I think the world is horrible, and I think that I need to just do more houses, and I think people need to like my waffles more.

Josh 36:39

We would like to thank Antonio, Josh Scarr, Daniel J. Buckets, Chicken Tom, Matt, Monique from Germany, Joey.

SPEAKER_01 36:47

Joey.

Josh 36:47

Joey, who's in Reno right now with his lovely wife Kim.

Amanda 36:51

Why?

Josh 36:52

They're their vacation.

Amanda 36:53

Why they get to go on a vacation and we don't.

Josh 36:56

Leo, Refine Gay Jeff, Ryan Baker, Mark Rachel, and Dan and Gavin. Uh, thank you all for being people who support us through thick and thin, and Amanda needs you right now.

SPEAKER_04 37:09

Gavin had a birthday.

Josh 37:10

Yeah, and we wished him a big one.

Amanda 37:11

Happy birthday, Gavin.

Josh 37:12

Yes, happy birthday again, Gavin.

Amanda 37:15

But Dan got him a mean card.

Josh 37:17

Dan got him a funny card.

Amanda 37:20

I'm sad now.

Josh 37:21

You are sad.

Amanda 37:22

All right, friends. You guys go be kind and I'm gonna go cry.

Josh 37:25

Alright. Uh we will hopefully see you next week.

SPEAKER_00 37:29

Bye.

Josh 37:29

Bye.

SPEAKER_00 37:32

Welcome back to the conversation. Tell me who I'm talking to. Get on down to imagination. You want me and I am you. Familiar. Come be stranger.