In this episode Sean recaps his first ever trip to MicroConf, spoiler: he loved it. Meanwhile Andrew has a new favorite brick and mortar business, and has a date for the MetaMonster launch!

Links:

• Andrew’s Twitter: @AndrewAskins
• Andrew's website: https://www.andrewaskins.com/
• MetaMonster: https://metamonster.ai/
• Sean’s Twitter: @seanqsun
• Miscreants: http://miscreants.com/
• Sean's website: https://seanqsun.com/

For more information about the podcast, check out https://www.smalleffortspod.com/.

Transcript:
00:00.78

Sean

What's up man? Why are you late? Just

00:02.85

Andrew

but gonna call me out like that

00:06.12

Sean

helping segue.

00:09.45

Andrew

so i just went to what might be my new favorite like old school business ever and i'm so excited about it it knife sharpening

00:16.40

Sean

Okay.

00:22.54

Sean

Okay. Say more.

00:24.27

Andrew

Okay, so there's this this little business I found on Google google Maps. I was like looking for knife sharpening locally. like There are a bunch of services. My knives have gotten dull as hell.

00:35.90

Andrew

I cook a lot. I need to take better care of them. I was like, I need to find someone to sharpen them. And there's all these services online that like you pay like $60 or something and they nail you a thing. But I just hate dealing with snail mail.

00:47.67

Andrew

And so one day I was like, all right, let me just search Google Maps and see if there's a local business. And I found this company called Bunnell Brothers Cutlery Inc. or something like that.

00:58.03

Andrew

Like classic old school business name. And they had. 4.9 stars on google like all of the reviews were like holy shit these guys are amazing it costs like three dollars to sharpen a knife they do it in five minutes the guy is so so friendly will answer all your questions and so i was like okay i gotta go to this place and it's a little out of the way so it took me a while to get there but this morning i put it on my to-do list i'm like i'm finally going to go and get our knives sharpened And I show up, it's this like, warehousey squat looking building, it was hard to find the door like the front door is painted over.

01:34.21

Andrew

And there's just a sign that says like, all deliveries go to side door. And so I'm like, It was hard to even figure out how to get in. I walk in and like when I first opened the door, I just see like a bunch of people at like grinders, like three or four people at grinders. And it feels like I'm stepping into a warehouse and I'm like, am I like allowed to come in here?

01:55.69

Andrew

But then I saw like the counter and like two people were immediately like friendly and like, yeah, come on in. You're in the right place. And the I mean, just amazing.

02:05.84

Andrew

He sharpened my knives in like under five minutes, not even like under two minutes. It cost me three dollars a knife. He took card.

02:16.93

Andrew

He I asked him like three or four questions and he was super happy to chat with me. I was like, I was like, you know, how often should I be using a honing rod? He's like, every time I'm like, I have a cheap shitty honing rod. Is that okay?

02:27.91

Andrew

Yeah, that's fine. i was like admiring some like really nice expensive knives he had and he did, instead of trying to like push a sale on me, he was like, honestly, for the money, yours are just as good.

02:39.10

Andrew

Like, I love the knives you've got. And I was like, man, this guy is awesome. He told me, like, he's I was like, how often should I, like, get them resharpened? He's like, I tell people, like, twice a year, like, Christmas and Fourth of July. That way you've got them for the holidays. But, like, you know, just whenever you feel like they're starting to get dull and, like, the honing isn't isn't doing its job.

02:58.00

Andrew

And so, like, this is just classic old school business. And... I imagine most of their business is actually sharpening knives for local restaurants and like this, like, you know, personal knife sharpening service.

03:13.15

Andrew

Like they can't make much money on it. They're doing it's $3 a knife. They can't be making much money off of this.

03:18.57

Sean

Twice a year, yeah.

03:19.84

Andrew

Yeah, but I feel like, you know, either they make enough or they just don't care and it's like kind of a public service that they'll just do this for people just because.

03:30.70

Andrew

And so I was just like blown away. Like this, it just, it was one of those like businesses that just made me feel good. It felt like community.

03:39.12

Sean

Is this now your favorite, this is now your favorite and store, like, shop in Michigan?

03:42.87

Andrew

Absolutely. Favorite, favorite, like, like brick and mortar, like,

03:44.62

Sean

Okay.

03:48.01

Sean

Do we do classes?

03:49.84

Andrew

I don't think so. like they Because they they sharpen things on like grind like machines. like They've got grinders.

03:56.09

Sean

I see.

03:56.68

Andrew

And so that's why it takes them no time at all. They just go, choop, choop. So yeah, I don't think. And again, like they're not trying to be modern.

04:08.14

Andrew

They're not trying to offer classes or anything like that.

04:10.56

Sean

Yeah.

04:10.74

Andrew

they're just They do what they do. like All of the knives for like the businesses were stacked in these like wooden boxes that looked like they were 50 years old and just had written in sharpie like the name of the business and whatnot so yeah i just i love this and i want them to continue to exist forever

04:28.58

Sean

I love it.

04:33.75

Sean

Yeah, I mean, sick. no Now I want to come to Michigan and get my knife sharpened. I could take it away TSA.

04:41.74

Andrew

There's got to be a million places in New York that are that are very similar vibes.

04:44.91

Sean

Yeah, they're like $10 a knife. Williams-Sonoma. I think people go there.

04:49.64

Andrew

Yeah, but that's not the same as going to Bunnell Brothers.

04:50.05

Sean

I don't know any lik...