Building a Better Dave

I spoke about my now PSTD reaction to finding pile after pile after pile of plastic bags that my sister (who NEVER throws them away) had stored throughout my house in a previous episode.

After watching a report from ABC News called Trashed: The Secret Life of Plastic Recycling that there was an option that had never crossed my mind.

Isn't that the way so many things are? We convince ourselves of an outcome, or our potential and we never challenge that thought. We never check to see if it is still true.

When I was a teenager, I worked in a grocery store. If someone walked in with a big bag (or a winter coat when it was warm outside) someone was going to watch you through the store to make sure you didn't shoplift. Now it is encouraged so the store doesn't have to pay for the bag you are using.

So what is the cure for plastic bags? Quit using them. Yep, that is an option and I spent $20 on Amazon and bought three usable grocery bags. My problem of always having a bag of bags that I always forget to bring with me when I go to the store (and then stuff more bags into the bag of bags) is solved. For me, who just HATED these bags, this is a big deal that was solved for $20. You can find cheaper versions as well.

If your water is drinkable from the tap, then, call me crazy... use it. If it's not then looking into a Brita Water Filter will save you money in the long run. Americans buy 29 billion water bottles a year. When I go to trade shows, I can always pick up some kind of metal 20 oz water bottle that keeps things cool, or you can buy an insulated metal water bottle with a chug lid (who doesn't love a good chug lid). for $13.

So why are we even using plastic bags (I know the idea was to save the trees, but in saving the trees we have a serious plastic issue now), the answer is simple. Who is involved in making these super thin plastic bags? The Big Oil, and Big Chemical industries.

Well, that answers a lot.

P.S. The book I was reading about the guy in the closet is Winning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life by Craig Groeschel.

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I've got some momentum going. My house is cleaner, my vocabulary is growing, my finances are more organized, I'm focused on losing weight, and I'm possessed by the spirit of my Mom, who is helping me locate the best deals for food.

When something doesn't go your way, it's not a failure. It's an experience that you can use to move forward in a smarter way.

00:11 Intro

00:37 Lots of Irons in the Fire

01:11 Triggered By My Uncle

02:15 Act 4

02:59 Dave The Slob

03:47 Health Benefits of Less Clutter

04:40 More Sleep = More Focus

05:14 monthlychallenge.fit

05:42 Duolingo

06:10 Dave Ramsey Every Dollar Financial Peace University

07:32 Grocery Detective

09:55 Pennies Make Dollars

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In this episode, I talk about making a brain tattoo, setting myself up to succeed (if I can just remember what it is I'm working on...) and parenting yourself. I just need to add one thing to my routine.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Todoist App

Evernote App

Google Calendar

Todoist Tutorials

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While I never met him in person, a fellow Libsyn employee was killed by a drunk driver on 12/4/22. He was a wife and three young daughters.

If you're new, I was married to an alcoholic, and hearing about drunk drivers is somewhat triggering. Throw on top a parent leaving the earth way too soon, and now you really are hitting me on all levels.

But wait, there is more.

It turns out there are people who are using AI (artificial intelligence) to scrape the internet for obituaries so they can "write" an article about the person and cram the website full of ads. One person even did it in a video (with the monetization turned on and the comments - naturally - turned off).

In the same way, you can get the air knocked out of you; I have lost some of my faith in humanity. I can't even explain my thoughts.

It's not often that Dave Jackson is speechless.

If you'd like to help out his wife and kids, it will make you feel better

Here is the GO FUND ME page.

I am worried about men. I think we are an endangered species. Here is why:

SPORTS

We listen to sportscasters who are making millions talk about athletes who are making millions for team owners who make billions. There are dedicated radio stations that talk about nothing else than how the team is doing, and what they need to do to win.

None of that talk has any effect on the team. Zero

FOOTBALL COMMERCIALS

Then when you watch a football game, you always have:

1. The spokesmodel who didn't play football but is STUNNINGLY beautiful who will "pass it over" to people who actually played the game. She can also do that special piece during breast cancer awareness month.

2. There will be boner pill commercials, cause you know...priorities

3. Remedies for baldness. We will ship it to you in a private box - because nobody knows you're bald.

4. Trucks. Big trucks with deep voiceovers. These trucks have power unlike your small penis, which needs a blue pull to function.

5. Beer. If you can't afford a large truck you head to the mountains. This commercial lists no facts and only has a sweaty beer can that eventually you get to hear open.

5. Gambling. Kevin Hart (another millionaire) talks about the best way to gamble all of the money you worked hard to earn. They are giving away money to people who light their money on fire the fastest. Oh, and here is a phone number if this commercial triggered you.

BUT WAIT THERE IS MORE

6. My Self Esteem is tied to my team. If we lose, my week is wrecked (Really?)

7. Tick Shots - I just started paying attention to TikTok, and I am AMAZED at how GUYS (no women are doing this) are spending what must be hours if not days filming themselves trying to put a cup into a cup, or a ping pong ball, or flying a card into a clothespin. Whatever it is, it took a LOT of time to film. Which makes me think, "How much free time do YOU HAVE?"

So we are giving anyone who wants to say how stupid, pigheaded, and idiotic men are - lots of evidence.

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So I'm back from an event where people got offended by the presence of someone being in a room. That's a new one for me. I've been disappointed to see someone but seeing them never brought me harm.

How can you say you are for inclusion, and at the same time say you want to exclude someone? I don't understand.

I'm also sad to see people water down very powerful words. I save the "F word" for the end of the argument (thanks to George Carlin). I also hear people using the word Fascist, and I'm not sure they understand the definition.

We won't learn anything if we are yelling at each other, and I'm asking for help.

It will be interesting to see if asking for help is seen as violence.

Check out the commercial for the Fisher Price Podcast Set

Podcast Set - Saturday Night Live

It's hard to watch a friend get canceled. My friend Daniel is a devout Christian.

Currently, there is the worry that Roe Vs Wade will be overturned and abortion will be illegal.

Daniel left a comment on a tweet that was pro-choice. ""Stopping the mass murder of blacks and women, along with all the other babies, will be wonderful for the USA. How anyone could be so barbaric to endorse the murder of nearly 1 million babies every year is unbelievable." (He later deleted this tweet)

Daniel at the time was a Governor for the Podcast Academy. The TPA has a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion declaration on their site that reads,

We celebrate and support the industry of audio storytelling and fight to uplift and center the diverse communities of people doing this work.

We acknowledge the historical inequities that have existed in the space. We understand that to dismantle these inequities; it will take intentional efforts and commitments aimed at the communities that have long been subject to these inequities, including BIPOC, LGBTQ+ communities, people with disabilities, immigrants, and people across the spectrum of socio-economic class. We encourage our members to hold us accountable, but we also realize that it is not the responsibility of marginalized communities to do this work for us. For these reasons, we invest funds into external, BIPOC+ led resources to help us continue in this work.

This policy is a living document that grows as we do, and we look forward to continuing to evolve through our ongoing education, outreach, and efforts for mutual understanding.

After his comments went viral people started a petition to get him removed. They called him a racist, homophobic, and a misogynist.

Another fact, the Podcast Academy is 69% female.

Daniel was asked to resign, and when he declined he was fired.

Abortion

Mike Tyson said everyone has a plan until you get punched in the face. I think everyone has their views on abortion until they find out they are pregnant. I don't have a vagina, so I keep out of that conversation.

Racist

In the book, "Uncomfortable conversation with a black man" the author says to white people, I imagine some of you are thinking if black people can't decide which term to use, then how and why should white people be expected to know which term to use? Point taken? To the extent I can speak for anyone else, black is the most inclusive choice. There's no one label that will satisfy all.

I sued Google and found many websites stating THIS is the term that white people should use. They were all different.

Some wrong words are obvious (the N word) and others have white people asking, "Can I say this?" When I hear that people are saying he should stop breathing because he didn't put a capital on the "B" in blacks, it feels a bit extreme.

I asked this question in a group, and the group could not give me an agreed-upon answer. SO know that white people are trying, but it's confusing.

Learning

You don't learn when you talk, you learn when you listen. It's hard when we get upset. When we don't feel heard our voices get loud. That is being human, but you have to realize that we were all raised in our own bubbles of culture and are probably missing pieces when it comes to understanding others.

The internet can bring us all together to learn from each other if we are willing students with open minds.

There will be times when we agree to disagree. I am driving to PA next week to see a friend of mine who is an atheist. I am not. We talk about everything and anything - except religion. He's not changing my mind, and I'm not changing his. If we have questions we know where to go.

Dialogues

At a podcast event, there were two left-leaning, two right-leaning, and one LGBQT+ person and we all listened and talk about our experiences. This was the first time I realized what I learned in school is not accurate. Daniel was nothing but respectful. This was such a cool conversation that I remember it, and so does David Hooper (one of the guys at the table). It was like, "Hey remember when people could have a dialogue?"

A Better Use of Your Time?

Instead of digging through years of old tweets, right not reach out and ask to have a conversation. Steven Covey in the book the 7 Habits of Effective people says we should "understand before being understood."

John Mayer

In 2001 I pre-judged John Mayer as "another pretty-boy singer-songwriter who is going to make the girls scream."

I would overlook him year after year. 14 years later a friend told me I should give him a listen. I did, and it turns out he is an AMAZING guitar player. I had missed out on some great guitar playing, lyrics, and music.

My point is if we can take a second to get to know each other we might benefit from understanding each other. It may not always be easy, but anything of value rarely is.

Mentioned in this Episode

No Safe Places Documentary

John Mayer Belief (Lyrics video)

The Social Dilemma Trailer

Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man

Linconia

Pocahontas Exception

Today I share a story that I have not thought about in a long time. It's weird to think of a time when there was ONE TV in the house, and you couldn't fast forward through the commercials. My brother and I created a sport that we played during the commercials.

This came to me after attending a storytelling event from Matthew Disk who is the author of one of my favorite books Storyworthy.

He has an exercise where you list three random things you can touch. You then have one minute to come up with a story about one of those items, and then you two minutes to tell a story about it.

The word that inspired this episode was pillow.

Gentlemen, is this just me? There are certain things that happen as you get older:
1. You're probably having less sex in your marriage.
2. Your anatomy might become looser and hang lower
3. Your urination stream is not as powerful as it once was. 

I get those but NOBODY mentioned this one and it's happened to me. 

I LOST MY ASS. 

As in my buttocks. As in I'm wearing the same pants as always (34X36) and my belly is larger than it has ever been, and yet my pants will straight up FALL down if I'm not careful (I've not worn a belt since the 8th grade). So is this a thing?

Is it just that all of the fat in your butt dissolves and relocates to your belly? I bent over to put groceries in the car and shot everyone behind me the moon. 

My badonkadonk is now a badonkadon't.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Click Sliding Belt

When I read the lyrics of the song "Frosty the Snowman" I saw some disturbing things.

Frosty was on the pipe.

He was headed to the village with a broomstick in his hand.

Frosty attempted death by cop. If Frosty was black in lived in Chicago, he would've been dead.

Did Frosty have a death wish? Was frosty really just unselfish? Was Frosty just a moron.

Was the "Magic" in his hat just packets of cocaine?

Why is Frosty (a middle-aged white guy) really just a pedophile?

Maybe frosty was depressed. He should have called the suicide hotline. 800-273-8255

Look at Frosty go? Did he make the children watch him pee?