Set & Centered

We head outside to record and immediately prove we should not be trusted with telescopes, technology, or having a podcast. We start under the night sky and somehow end up in a wandering tour of pop culture, nostalgia, pets, small business economics, and the chaos of trying to capture shooting stars. 

In this episode:
• Forgetting the plan and leaning into the tangent
• A Star Trek gripe about "full fire" visuals 
• Star Wars theatrical re-release
• Ryan Reynolds comfort rewatches and persona fatigue
• Celine Dion’s voice, health, and why the documentary hits
• Captain Kangaroo across generations
• Power Rangers and Tickle Me Elmo
• The terror of silence with kids and dogs
• Trash pickup reality checks and small home logistics
• Tripod anchoring, Starlink headaches, and tech friction
• Flappy Bird and laundromat economics
• Shooting stars and testing phone astrophotography
• Old projector frustration and the "meatloaf" bit

The story continues at www.save4swing.com

Mark checks in from Oregon while RJ holds it down back in Texas, and we bounce from family dinners and pizza in Turner to the logistics of hauling a "Barbie Boat" across the country to Texas (via North Carolina?). The conversation drifts from AI false alarms and chat bot annoyances to smart telescope tracking, stargazing plans, and life with a cautious new puppy. It’s part travel diary, part real-life planning session, and part proof that long-distance podcasts run on timing, patience, and a little trash talk.

In this episode:
• Oregon trip updates, family dinners, and heading home after Easter
• Hauling the red-and-white "Barbie Boat" to Texas and where it might end up in the pond
• Robbie’s puppet videos, the fish tank backstory, and the mystery water sound
• Remote recording headaches, background hum, and just how much mics pick up
• Automated platform warnings and AI detection weirdness
• Astronomy plans, night-sky targets, and why tracking modes change image quality
• Buckley the puppy progress, socializing with other dogs, and slow trust-building
• Learning 3D printing for practical fixes and hobby projects, maybe even astrophotography

The story continues at www.save4swing.com

We start where we always do — somewhere ridiculous. Brontosaurus names, Pluto's planetary status, a fearful stray puppy who won't come inside but absolutely will paw at the door the moment you turn your back. Then Rob joins us from Arizona, and we get to the reason Lake Lucy exists. He tells us Lucy's full story: how she came to him from an Air Force family in crisis, how she protected his family on a dark street without being asked, how cancer showed up fast and took her at eight years old, and what he carries with him about knowing when it's time to let go. It's the kind of conversation that sneaks up on you.
 
In this episode:
• A fearful stray puppy who runs from humans but follows the pack everywhere — including through a barbed wire fence at a dead sprint
• Robbie's gay fish, a flooded bathroom, and why texting a teenager is a fundamentally hopeless enterprise
• Why parts of this ranch are named after dogs — and what that actually means
• Lucy's adoption from an Air Force family in crisis, and the meet-and-greet that turned into "we'll take her right now"
• The night she planted herself between her family and a strange dog on a dark street and didn't move until it left
• A cancer diagnosis at eight years old, a tumor that wouldn't stop rupturing, and the question nobody wants to answer: when is it time?
• What Rob carries with him — and why he shares it with anyone facing that same impossible decision
• "If not for the Patsys and the Lucys in our lives, this place wouldn't exist."

The story continues at www.save4swing.com

We bring Rob on from Arizona and immediately get hit with peak brother energy, tech chaos, and a fish tank that sounds way too much like a bathroom. Along the way we check on Maggie, relive listener nicknames, argue about a movie quote poll, and somehow end up on AI actors and online privacy.

In this episode:
• Maggie update and small routine changes that help 
• Rob’s long teased full guest appearance and instant technical drama 
• Cindy’s comments plus the origin of “The Tinkler” 
• The “Nobody Puts Baby In A Corner” poll and why Mark gets salty 
• Arizona heat vs everyone else’s weather bragging rights 
• Val Kilmer and the idea of an AI generated performance 
• Debating action stars and what even counts as acting 
• Star Trek cast music rabbit hole and surprising deep cuts 
• A Smithsonian connected portrait story and tracking down the artist 
• Europe travel talk and the toilets debate 
• Browser pop ups plus device cleanup when you borrow a computer 
• Incognito mode myths and what real privacy tools do 

The story continues at www.save4swing.com

The tone flips fast when you live with dogs: one minute you’re laughing about pop culture, dumb polls, and a joke so bad it’s good, and the next you’re dealing with the kind of responsibility that keeps you up at night. We laugh, we vent, and we land on the same point: caring for animals means showing up even when it is messy and heartbreaking.

In this episode:

• Seattle trip recap and helping wrench on a Chevy C10 build

• Nemo project updates and a Too Wong Foo side quest

• Dirty Dancing poll results and “pole master” logic

• Spanish words, misheard phrases, and cartoon nostalgia

• A clean-joke run that gets progressively sharper

• Fireflies on the ranch and failed attempts to film them

• Timid puppy struggles, feeding issues, and parasite risk to the pack

• Standard new-puppy rescue protocol for fleas, worms, and prevention

• Maggie’s rapid decline, quality-of-life worries, and planning with a vet

The story continues at www.save4swing.com

We catch up after a brutal snowstorm drive, a missed release, and another round of remote recording chaos that turns into a surprisingly good setup. Then we pivot back to the ranch where we try to find Nemo but end up with a new puppy instead. We talk the reality of running a dog sanctuary and feeling grateful and overwhelmed at the same time. 

The story continues at www.save4swing.com

Ever tried to keep a podcast alive from the cab of a truck at 4 a.m.? We did—one of us in the ranch studio, the other barreling north toward the Pacific Northwest with two sleepy dogs and a stubborn laptop finally tamed by a password named after a beloved pup. Tech mishaps, family milestones, weather worries, and dog snacks collide as we name a new format and keep our promise to ship.

The story continues at www.save4swing.com

We head outside to record under a cloudy sky, trade telescope tips we can’t use, and dig into the strange comfort of a slow, honest show. Between Starlink mishaps and ranch projects, we find a lane that feels calm, funny, and unforced.

The story continues at www.save4swing.com

We welcome Robbie to the ranch mic, trade barbs about broken rods and a Jeep stuck in first, and let Glamma set the rules on respect while we test the truth of a few wobbly stories. Between laughter and shotgun echoes, a teen finds his voice and we find the heart of our show.

The story continues at www.save4swing.com

Ever had a small fix turn into a life upgrade?  That’s the pulse running through this one where we juggle dog chaos, missing pens, and a surprise studio cameo while chasing down tech issues and a trench full of roots. We laugh hard at ourselves, but there’s real progress hiding in the mess: a lost keepsake found in seconds, a fresh set of tires, a utility trailer that suddenly does the work of a weekend crew.  And maybe a dinosaur fossil?

The story continues at www.save4swing.com