The GLUE-OOM

# Brewed in the Swamp: Ogre on Serving Coffee, Serving the Six & Leading Last

🎙️ ABOUT THIS EPISODE

The Plague sits down at The Nomad with Ogre, former Site Q of The Sanitarium. He's a 6'7" lefty who pitched at Louisville, was drafted twice, and got "tricked" into F3 by Farva at the Kypus Memorial Run. Ogre opens up about seasons of endurance and injury, a marriage built on proactive counseling and shared hobbies, and a faith journey that went from counting ceiling beams to working through the Bible. It all brews down to the servant-leadership lesson that defined his flag year: pour the coffee, stay with the Six, and lead from the back of the pack.

✅ HIGHLIGHTS

✅ Farva's long game: a "memorial 5K" invite that turned out to be F3.

✅ The naming: 78 men, a Shrek answer, and a giant FNG in the prayer huddle.

✅ Drafted twice, never signed, and why he credits his parents for talking sense into him.

✅ The legendary December Peloton war with BoFlex.

✅ A broken foot, a flag pass, and a deliberate year of healing.

✅ JC's Q Source warning: pour as much into your wife and family as you pour into F3.

✅ Fellowship beyond the gloom: couples friendships and hockey-dad taco Tuesdays.

✅ Why he and his wife chose marriage counseling before they ever needed it.

✅ Time over money, and why you should vet your boss's boss.

✅ His wife's one wish, the karma-versus-Jesus exchange, and the workbook that opened the Bible up.

✅ The Crooked Pint: a waitress in tears and the birth of "the best coffee in Sarpy County."

✅ Swiper's lesson applied: the Site Q's real job is to serve the Six.

💬 KEY QUOTES

🗣️ "I wasn't gonna bail on Farva and not show up for him that day."

🗣️ "I value time way more than money."

🗣️ "Being a parent... it's the hardest, greatest thing."

🗣️ "We're just gonna serve the best coffee in Sarpy County."

🗣️ "Whoever was last, I'm gonna be more last than you."

🗣️ "Maybe that guy needed us."

⏱️ CHAPTERS

00:00 — Pre-Roll & Live From The Nomad

03:30 — Tricked Into the Gloom: Farva & the Kypus Memorial Run

06:31 — The Naming: Shrek, Sarcasm & 6'7"

08:37 — The Mound: Louisville, Two Drafts & Parents' Wisdom

12:43 — Endurance Seasons: Half Marathons, CrossFit & 5,000 Miles

17:04 — The Break: Broken Foot, Flag Pass & a Year of Healing

24:55 — Fellowship Beyond F3: Hockey Dads, Tacos & JC's Warning

30:52 — It Starts With Us: Marriage, Counseling & Shared Hobbies

34:57 — Dad Life & Time Over Money

39:17 — Faith: From Counting Beams to Reading the Book

45:33 — Servant Leadership: Boss Hog & the Crooked Pint Pour

51:14 — Serve the Six & Get Out of My Swamp

🎙️ ABOUT THIS EPISODE The Plague sits down one-on-one with No Cry (David Perilo): drummer, former OPS elementary teacher, Pepsi technician, and former Site Q of Futurama. He got his name by joining a reggae band a week before his first beatdown, after his fraternity brother Othello EH’d him out of a lonely season and into one of the longest grinders F3 Omaha ever ran. From there No Cry walks through ADHD, dropping out at 16, about ten years of sobriety, and the months he was too intimidated to go to coffee. This is a story about a Shield Lock that listened, a man who learned he matters, and why you keep the beat when the tunnel is longer than you thought.

✅ HIGHLIGHTS

• 📱 He was so desperate for accountability that he posted on Facebook for a gym buddy. Then Othello showed up.
• 🥵 His first beatdown was a three-man grinder from the top of Memorial to Dodge and back.
• 🥁 The Naming: a brand-new reggae drummer meets Bob Marley.
• 🎓 He was kicked out three times and dropped out at 16, then went GED to bachelor’s degree to teacher.
• 🚗 Othello picked him up for every beatdown for one to two months.
• ☕ He spent months “scared of coffee” before discovering he wasn’t alone.
• 🏃 He went from “I can’t run a mile” to finishing the Good Life Half beside West Ham.
• 🛡️ His Shield Lock with Othello, Sputnik, and U-Haul showed him that listening levels every playing field.
• 🪞 His advice on friendship: be true to yourself, always.
• 🙏 Faith on his terms: drumming at the same church since 14 and believing every brother will show up.
• 🔨 He’s honest about his hardest season and how he rebuilt through art, a CNC machine, and a second chance.
• 🚩 He stepped away from one site with integrity, then took the Futurama flag and owned it.
• 🚇 His thesis: the tunnel’s longer than you thought, so keep going.
• 🤝 About ten years sober, he’s now the guy other men come to when they’re trying to get there.

💬 KEY QUOTES

• 🗣️ “I was scared of coffee.”
• 🗣️ “It was welcoming, it was warm, it was eye-opening… wow, I’m actually not alone. I matter.”
• 🗣️ “You become what you are around.”
• 🗣️ “Just be true to yourself. Don’t let any situation make you act different than who you are.”
• 🗣️ “My faith is that every brother is going to show up next to me.”
• 🗣️ “It’s absolutely possible. You’re not giving yourself enough credit.”
• 🗣️ “I didn’t want to go out in flames. I really didn’t want to sink the ship.”
• 🗣️ “Sometimes the tunnel’s longer than you thought it was gonna be.”
• 🗣️ “I’ve made really good friends in F3 because I’ve just listened.”

⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00 — Pre-Show Huddle & Prayer 01:42 — Othello, Futurama & the Longest Grinder 05:30 — The Naming: No Woman, No Cry 07:30 — Kicked Out, Dropped Out & Becoming a Teacher 15:10 — Scared of Coffee 18:00 — From “I Can’t Run” to the Good Life Half 25:00 — The Shield Lock & Being True to Yourself 34:00 — Faith: Every Brother Shows Up 41:30 — The Hard Road & the Rebuild 52:45 — Leadership: Carrying the Shovel Flag 57:30 — The Tunnel Is Longer: Consistency & Listening 1:02:00 — Ten Years, Paying It Forward & Name-O-Rama

# It's Good to Be Full: Hungry-Man on Showing Up When It Matters

🎙️ ABOUT THIS EPISODE

The Plague and Gator sit down with Brad Bruns — F3 Hungry-Man — a ConAgra supply-chain lead, Gretna dad of twin 10-year-olds, and former Site Q of the Iditarod. He showed up convinced he "wasn't very interesting." Then he walked us from a sore first post at The Dune to the eve of his first half marathon, through a season where the PAX made sure he wasn't alone, and into the leadership truth he learned planting the flag every Thursday: showing up matters more than you think.

✅ HIGHLIGHTS

✅ EH'd by Oscar — sore after The Dune and back the very next day

✅ The naming: ConAgra, a microwave dinner, and yes, the dash

✅ Twenty pounds down by learning his own habits

✅ Eggs, almonds, and the 7 P.M. cutoff — his Queen playbook

✅ Mufasa's three-grape pre-beatdown fuel

✅ From "not a runner" to a first half marathon alongside his wife

✅ How the Second F made a dad feel he wasn't alone

✅ Missing the locker room — and finding it in the Gloom

✅ Leader or follower? Q Source and an honest answer

✅ Bringing the 2.0s out — and why it's different when it's not your dad

✅ Finding the gold in the teachings and building beds for North Omaha kids

✅ Planting the Iditarod flag — and the self-grade the hosts refused to accept

✅ Succession by text: "I hear you're gonna take the flag"

✅ Gratitude, Goggins, and doing the work anyway

💬 KEY QUOTES

🗣️ "Showing up matters more to some people than you think it does."

🗣️ "It made me feel like I wasn't alone."

🗣️ "I don't know if I wanna be a leader or if I wanna be a follower. You gotta have both."

🗣️ "You can't expect to be good at stuff if you're not doing it."

🗣️ "The stories and the teachings are where the gold is."

🗣️ "I do whine sometimes when I'm doing it, but I'm still doing it."

⏱️ CHAPTERS

00:00 — Cold Open: The Mandatory Podcast Nobody Warns You About

02:43 — The Dune & The Naming: Sore, Back, and Hungry-Man

05:40 — Small Town, Big Frame: Twenty Pounds Down

08:55 — Finding the Groove: From Follower to Half Marathoner

11:50 — The Queen: Eggs, Almonds & the 7 P.M. Cutoff

19:20 — Not Alone: Fellowship When Life Got Heavy

23:55 — The Solver: Missing the Locker Room & Giving Each Other a Hard Time

27:45 — Q Source, Shield Lock & the Leader-or-Follower Question

31:20 — The 2.0s, The M & the Brain Fog Test

38:35 — Third F: Where the Gold Is

43:45 — Planting the Iditarod Flag: Showing Up Matters

51:15 — Passing the Flag, Still Doing the Work & NaMo

Every Prince Needs an Uncle Phil: Fresh Prince on Mentors, Brotherhood & Never Going It Alone — The Glue-OOM, Episode 268

🎙️ ABOUT THIS EPISODE

The Plague and co-host Gator sit down at the Nomad with Fresh Prince: a Lexington, Nebraska native, Gretna optometrist and St. Columbkille parishioner who knew about F3 for years but never came, because nobody ever asked. He tells how one birthday-party invite led to 50 minutes on the wrong site with Fire Walker and Animal House, a Shield Lock that formed on a Thursday 10K, and the Danger Zone flag he carried after promising his wife he wouldn't. Every prince needs an Uncle Phil, and this is the story of the men who called him up, the mentor who got him through burnout, and the flag he handed to the next man. It's an hour on consistency, leading like yourself, asking for help, and the one thing he wants every man to hear: you're not alone.

✅ HIGHLIGHTS

✅ "I'm asking you now": the EH that finally came, and a first post at Steel Mill

✅ Philly, the Eagles and the naming of Fresh Prince (North Philly, not West)

✅ Up and down, left and right: a fitness road that never stuck until F3

✅ The wrong site: 50 minutes on the Crown with Fire Walker and Animal House

✅ Drinking from the fire hose, and why fellowship made it stick

✅ Consistency makes you strong, plus 5:37 at Iron PAX

✅ The VQ at Sandlot and a sleepless night over the intro and COT

✅ Walls break down: how the gloom works like a small group

✅ Porter, Match Point and a gymnastics-inspired Q

✅ Learning to open up as a husband and father

✅ The Trot: a Shield Lock that built itself, and the text that finds you when you go quiet

✅ Cradle Catholic, Q Source, and giving blood every eight weeks

✅ Lead like yourself: the promise, the blessing and the Danger Zone flag

✅ Passing the flag to Levy, and on-site coffee arrives

✅ The mentor, the year-long program, and asking your team for help

✅ "It's okay to not be okay," and the ask

💬 KEY QUOTES

🗣️ "No one's ever really asked me." "Well, I'm asking you now."

🗣️ "I could see the three F's work right away at my first beatdown."

🗣️ "It doesn't really matter what you do. If you do it consistently, you're gonna get strong."

🗣️ "It really doesn't matter if you're young or old, or successful by society's standards or not."

🗣️ "There's nothing more powerful than knowing that what you're struggling with, you're not alone."

🗣️ "If you got a shield lock, you're never gonna drift too far away. They're always gonna reel you back in."

🗣️ "You gotta lead in your own way."

🗣️ "If you're trying to lead like someone else, it's not gonna come through as authentic."

🗣️ "I owed it to all the brothers, and owed it to F3, that I take it."

🗣️ "It's okay to go to someone smarter than you and say, can you help me do this?"

🗣️ "Every day we show up, we know why we care."

🗣️ "It's okay to not be okay, and it's okay to ask for help."

⏱️ CHAPTERS

0:00 — Kotters & "I'm Asking You Now": Wiff, St. C & Steel Mill

2:25 — Philly, the Eagles & the Naming of Fresh Prince

4:25 — Lexington Roots, the Fitness Pogo Stick & the Road Home

7:40 — The Wrong Site: 50 Minutes With Fire Walker & Animal House

9:50 — The Fire Hose: Why Fellowship Made It Stick

13:20 — Coffeeteria, the VQ at Sandlot & Walls Breaking Down

19:05 — The 2.0s, the M & Learning to Open Up

24:45 — The Trot: A Shield Lock That Built Itself

29:10 — Cradle Catholic, Q Source & the Third F

34:45 — Lead Like Yourself: The Promise, Danger Zone & Passing the Flag

41:30 — Every Prince Needs an Uncle Phil: Mentors & Asking for Help

50:15 — The Ask, Tiburon Eye Care & Name-O-Rama

Keep the Shoes: Chalupa on Standing Firm and Finding His People — The Glue-OOM, Episode 267

🎙️ ABOUT THIS EPISODE

The Plague and co-host Stripes sit down at the Nomad with Chalupa — small-town Nebraska kid, Men of God regular, and former Site Q of the Ruckus. He got his F3 name the night he lost his cash and his Taco Bell but refused to hand over a brand-new pair of K-Swiss, and that same stubborn streak runs through the whole hour. From a skipped first EH and the isolation of the COVID years to Coffeeteria, the O-Line, and the morning he could finally say "I found my people," Chalupa walks through authentic COTs, identity in Christ, handing the Ruckus flag to his own brother-in-law, and why doing GTE and the 50-Mile March in the same year was never about him.

✅ HIGHLIGHTS

✅ The third F first: Men of God, Tightlip, Hindsight, Cake — and the myth that F3 is just running

✅ The Helix no-show, the isolation years, and a back that barely worked

✅ "Very little running." "Do tell." — Cake's pitch for Coronado

✅ The Taco Bell bag, the K-Swiss he kept, and the Gorditas that were really in the bag

✅ All in by lunch: F3 gear bought the afternoon of his first post

✅ "I'm just gonna come and walk" — no backpack at the Ruckus launch

✅ The holder: pre-rucking with the O-Line at 4:45

✅ One Murph to four, and the core work that fixed his back

✅ Coffeeteria is the assignment — and "I found my people"

✅ The Sad Clown fades as leadership spills into home and work

✅ COT is mostly for me: authenticity over Instagram quotes

✅ Fading in the back of a big church, and why small groups are the glue

✅ Identity isn't the job — and a room full of off-key men at the Impact Retreat

✅ VQ to Site Q: taking the Ruckus flag and passing it to Shrooms

✅ GTE and the 50-Mile March in one year, and what's bigger than you

✅ Rapid fire and the ask

💬 KEY QUOTES

🗣️ "For the longest time I thought F3 was just a bunch of dudes out in the morning running."

🗣️ "I'm just gonna come and walk."

🗣️ "We can add weight, we can go faster, we can still talk."

🗣️ "You can sit around a table and just have authentic conversations with guys."

🗣️ "It's completely night and day, and I feel like I found my people."

🗣️ "I didn't even know what Sad Clown was until F3. But I was the epitome of that."

🗣️ "I just want to be as authentic as possible during a COT and not read some Instagram thing."

🗣️ "Sometimes we don't have all the answers, but we're doing it together."

🗣️ "God has given us the blueprint. We just gotta read it and follow it."

🗣️ "My identity isn't my job. My identity is in Christ."

🗣️ "Anytime you're gonna lead someone, you have to meet them where they're at."

🗣️ "Quiet guys can lead too."

🗣️ "You can't sit back in the shadows and hide."

🗣️ "It's so much bigger than me doing hard things. It's that guy next to me."

⏱️ CHAPTERS

0:00 — Kotters at the Nomad: Meet Chalupa

3:40 — The Third F First: Men of God & the Running Myth

5:25 — The No-Show, the Isolation Years & a Bad Back

7:15 — "Very Little Running": Cake, Coronado & the First Beatdown

9:55 — The Taco Bell Bag, the K-Swiss & the Naming

18:45 — All In: The Gear, the Texts & "Just Come and Walk"

23:20 — The Holder: Pre-Rucking with the O-Line & Four Murphs

31:00 — Coffeeteria, the Sad Clown & "I Found My People"

37:30 — Say It Out Loud: Authentic COTs & a Hard Week

42:25 — Faith: Fading in the Back, Identity in Christ & the Impact Retreat

51:50 — VQ to Site Q: Leading the Ruckus & Passing the Flag to Shrooms

59:05 — GTE, the 50-Mile March, Rapid Fire & the Ask

🎙️ ABOUT THIS EPISODE

The Plague and co-host LPC sit down at the Nomad in downtown Elkhorn with Billboard — Afghan-born, Omaha-made, former State Farm agent turned company builder, author, and the man who planted The Calm. He got his F3 name off his own face on a roadside sign, and he spends this hour making the opposite case: the thing that actually matters can't be advertised. He walks through the two years he did F3 wrong on purpose, the three texts that cracked it open, the number on his desk every morning at nine, and the bathroom mirror that counts the days left with his daughter. Recorded on the twenty-fifth anniversary of 9/11.

✅ HIGHLIGHTS

✅ Toto's EH, a first post at Helix he could walk to, and a Q who knew his face off a billboard

✅ Two years of workout-car-home — then "you weren't yourself today"

✅ His final accounting: 20% workout, 80% brotherhood

✅ Why a leader who can't show weakness at work needed somewhere he could

✅ Planting The Calm at Elkhorn South — and handing the flag to Bogey

✅ Six or seven in one bedroom, and why food in the trash still makes him leave

✅ No English, no friends, very fast — how soccer saved a refugee kid in Omaha

✅ Arriving eight months after 9/11, and taking the high road while his brother took the fight

✅ Risk, the ledge, and the dark room most men walk backward out of

✅ Acquired last year, busier than ever, and why it was never about the money

✅ The mirror: God, his M, and the number of days left with his daughter

✅ "How are ya?" — the nightly, eyes-on marriage check-in he has never skipped

✅ Talk to 15 people today: 100 → 50 → 25 → 15, and why the CEO still has a number

✅ "I believe in you" — a six-year-old, a salesman having a bad month, and a boss from Miami

💬 KEY QUOTES

🗣️ "In times where you don't think you have time is when you need those people the most."

🗣️ "Honestly, I'd say 20% workout, 80% brotherhood."

🗣️ "That doesn't make me entitled that I'm gonna be better than other people because of my past."

🗣️ "You don't have to win every fight. Sometimes you just gotta say — dude, you win. I walk away."

🗣️ "Why eight? Why not ten? If you can get ten out of ten, why stop at eight?"

🗣️ "You just need to get through that darkness, because behind the darkness is the light."

🗣️ "Maybe if I had a great father, I wouldn't be where I'm at."

🗣️ "I've never worked past four thirty. Never a Saturday. And I've never had a happy hour."

🗣️ "Just don't do three bad days in a row."

🗣️ "Every night, I go to my wife, look her in the face and say — hey, how are ya?"

🗣️ "If I'm keeping my teammates accountable and I'm not keeping myself accountable, that's not fair."

🗣️ "You don't have to tell people you're a leader. People know you're a leader by watching you."

🗣️ "Comparison is a thief. Your big might not be my big."

🗣️ "Maybe nobody has believed in you ever. Maybe as leaders, we need to go tell those people."

⏱️ CHAPTERS

0:00 — Kotters at the Nomad: Meet Billboard

3:45 — Toto, Helix & the Face on the Billboard

4:30 — Two Years of Doing It Wrong: The Grind and the Startup

5:40 — "You Weren't Yourself Today": Three Texts and the Shield Lock

9:05 — Protecting 4:30 to 7:30: Where a Leader Can Be Weak

12:50 — Planting The Calm, the Long-Delayed VQ & the Flag to Bogey

17:15 — Afghanistan, Pakistan & the Refugee Kid Who Found Soccer

22:20 — Eight Months After 9/11: Taking the High Road

26:35 — Why Eight? Why Not Ten? Risk, the Ledge & the Dark Room

33:20 — The Father He Never Had, and the Mirror He Writes On

42:55 — Choosing His Faith & Marriage Maintenance, Nightly

57:20 — Talk to 15 People Today, "I Believe In You" & the Ask

🎙️ ABOUT THIS EPISODE

The Plague sits down at The Nomad in downtown Elkhorn with Rambis — Omaha native, Burke grad, UNO biology degree, field service engineer on the blood analyzers running in hospitals and labs across the region, and the man who just handed off the farm flag to Backup Terry. He got named after a Laker who never scored the points, and it turned out to fit: no headlines, no highlight reel, just a year of 4:15 alarms and a gate that was always open.

If you've ever wondered whether anybody notices the mornings you open the gate alone, this one's for you.

✅ HIGHLIGHTS

✅ Driving past the Springfield houses they couldn't afford — until COVID rewrote the math 8:10

✅ "You wanna work out some more?" — Triple T's entire EH, in seven words 12:00

✅ Swiper takes the gloves off his own hands and hands them over, still warm 13:50

✅ The Namorama he showed up to in a fog, and the tall, lanky, mustachioed Laker he got named for 15:50

✅ Fighting off the pre-run for months, then taking the flag and never missing one 22:34

✅ Six parades a year, the same faces morning, noon and night, and whether that's too much 28:36

✅ Lauren, Everett, Wyatt and Phoebe, and the alter ego his kids haven't been let in on yet 30:59

✅ A natural skeptic, a devout grandmother, and "you can't ignore that last F" 39:20

✅ The line that made him a man of faith by his own definition, and why he said it at his VQ 40:35

✅ The home run derby VQ during the College World Series, and Nene whiffing on purpose 48:30

✅ 4:15 every Friday for a year, including the mornings nobody came 51:45

✅ Fireworks, wheelchairs, a blowtorch and a sheriff parked across the street 52:45

💬 KEY QUOTES

🗣️ "Do you know how much information Triple T gave me? It wasn't much."

🗣️ "Swiper gives me the gloves right off his hands."

🗣️ "I don't think I said one thing that was interesting about me."

🗣️ "Don't just sit back and be complacent — like I did."

🗣️ "He sets the pins up for you, but then he leaves it to you to follow through."

🗣️ "Am I comfortable seeing these guys this much? And the short answer is yeah. You learn to love it."

🗣️ "It adds another layer when someone's counting on you. And you don't want to let them down."

🗣️ "I can't be the only one here that isn't a typical churchgoer."

🗣️ "I was up at 4:15 every Friday for a year straight. There were mornings where no one showed up to run, but I was there just in case someone did."

🗣️ "I was proud that I was there and keeping the farm open."

⏱️ CHAPTERS

0:00 — Cold Open at the Nomad: Analyzers, Christmas Villages & Peanut Butter

7:41 — And We're Back: COVID, Piedmont & the Move to Springfield

11:00 — A Text to a Stranger: "You Wanna Work Out Some More?"

13:45 — Swiper's Gloves & Partner Squared: The First Beatdown

15:50 — The Blackout Namorama: How Rambis Got His Name

18:40 — Chain Nets, Burke & UNO: Never Stop Moving

20:48 — Setting the Pins Up: Triple T, the Pre-Run & Taking the Flag

26:30 — The Tall Guy Tax & Learning Forty Names

28:36 — The Springfield Fishbowl: Six Parades & the Mayor

30:59 — Lauren, Three 2.0s & the Alter Ego His Kids Haven't Met

39:20 — The Natural Skeptic: Making Room in the Third F

45:54 — The Home Run Derby VQ, 4:15 Fridays & the Fireworks Flag Pass

🔗 CONNECT WITH THE GLUE-OOM

F3 Omaha: https://f3omaha.com

X / Twitter: @F3Glue_OOM

Recorded at The Nomad Studio — downtown Elkhorn, NE

📌 EPISODE SUMMARY On Episode 264 of the Glue-OOM, The Plague sits down in the Nomad with Mortar — Council Bluffs kid, former Army National Guard mortarman, high school wrestling coach, and past Site Q at Bockscar — with his phone face-up on the table because his M is two weeks into contractions with twin girls. Mortar walks through the training-ground TBI that ended his military career weeks before a deployment, the torn meniscus that ended his running right after he'd finally become a runner, and the two men — Fun Dip and Chernobyl — who keep setting a bar he is still chasing. What comes out of it is not a highlight reel. It's a man who has had two things he loved taken away by his own body and refused, both times, to make that the end of the story. Aim adjusted. Charge reset. Next target.

✅ EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS ✅ The guilt-trip EH — Fun Dip works on him all wrestling season, and his M says she'll believe it when she sees it 3:50 ✅ Three coats too many at his first post at the DZ, and getting humbled anyway 4:40 ✅ The Namorama: a 22-year-old with nothing to give the circle gets named for the tube he fired 6:15 ✅ The TBI — a fluke in training, a neurologist who wouldn't release him, and a deployment he never made 7:20 ✅ Council Bluffs roots, Thomas Jefferson High, and real talk about planting F3 flags over the river 9:45 ✅ He heard "come to The Pit" and pictured barbed wire and a burn barrel. It's Halleck Park 12:45 ✅ From "a mile and I'd be dead" to a half marathon with Fun Dip and the 1776 13:20 ✅ The knee locks at 45 degrees — and the sentence that changes everything 15:50 ✅ Chasing Fun Dip and Chernobyl on the IPC board, and why that's a gift 18:20

💥 POWER QUOTES "I told my wife, and she was just like — okay, I'll believe it when you actually get up and do that." "I couldn't believe how out of shape I was, even though I was still lifting." "My neurologist wouldn't release me. And we were right getting ready to deploy." "I envisioned some fenced-off barbed wire location with a barrel of fire. And then I show up and it's just Halleck Park." "Coming from running a mile and I'd be dead, to doing that — that was awesome." "I've never been able to really run again. So trying to find new challenges is the new thing." "Trying to find new unique ways to challenge myself within my boundaries of what I can do." "They kind of raise the bar for me, and then I'm over here just chasing it." "I'd rather run with my kids and be an active father than go run a 5K for no reason at 4:45." "Hearing other people's prayers gives you a purpose as well." "Put your stamp on it. We've all been to the same site so many times — somehow put your stamp on it." "Find a way to leave your mark. And always try to leave it better than when you found it."

⏱️ CHAPTERS 0:00 Kotters at the Nomad: Meet Mortar 3:43 The Guilt Trip EH: Fun Dip, Wrestling Season & 5:15 A.M. 4:40 Three Coats Too Many: First Post at the DZ 6:15 The Namorama: A Mortarman Gets His Name 7:20 The TBI: A Fluke, a Neurologist & a Deployment He Never Made 9:45 Council Bluffs Roots: Thomas Jefferson, Midland & Flags Over the River 12:45 The Barbed-Wire Pit & Becoming a Runner 14:45 The Knee: Locked at 45 Degrees and Never Running Again 17:44 Chasing Fun Dip & Chernobyl: The IPC and the Bar They Set 20:00 Eleven Lawns, Two Jars of Peanut Butter & Wrestler Math 24:23 Shield Lock in Sarpy: Small Check-Ins and Picking Up Where You Left Off 28:15 Twins Any Minute: Alarms, the Delivery Room Race & Going One to Three 33:30 Cadence, Q School & the Fellowship Rhythm 36:20 The Root Beer, the TBI & Faith From Catechism to The Chosen 43:30 Serving: The Bleed Board, Drives & Showing Up 45:20 The VQ, Bockscar & Handing the Flag to Otis 51:30 Leadership Without Rank: The Cheat Sheet & Coaching Young Men 56:15 The Ask, the Namorama & "Thoon"

📘 EPISODE SUMMARY

On Episode 263 of the Glue-OOM, The Plague goes virtual with Village Inn — Iowa State physics grad, former Ironwood Site Q, and now a two-time flag planter in Colorado Springs. He traces how a tornado-cleanup carpool EH reshaped his life, opens up about mistaking familiarity for community back in Omaha, and explains how moving 600 miles with zero safety net forced him into the intentionality he'd been coasting past for years.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

✅ The Carpool EH — 45 minutes in a car with his boss after Blair tornado cleanup, and a casual "Monday, 5:30, I'll be there"

✅ "Probably Not" — the two words from his M that made him never miss a Monday for a year

✅ The Naming — Hipster's beatdown, nearly splashing merlot, and the π tattoo that made him Village Inn in four seconds

✅ Drawing the Driving Circle — close enough to get home in a day, far enough that nobody shows up unannounced

✅ The Real Hook — watching men lay it all on the line in COT and bust each other's chops five minutes later

✅ Best Shape By Accident — posting 5-6 days a week purely to make friends

✅ The Pit — the wide net of hometown familiarity that gave him the perception of community and killed his intentionality

✅ Ninety-Nine Percent — crediting his M for nearly all his pre-F3 emotional maturity

✅ Webb, Age 5 — his 2.0's F3 name, because Spider-Man was all they could get out of the shy guy

✅ Work In Its Place — 100% WFH, full house, and a little girl at his desk asking if he's almost done

✅ Grandpa's Standard — a man of the people who "would donate every second and dollar he had"

✅ The Site Q Ambush — a month after swearing he'd never get that involved

✅ The Colossus Con — how he tricked his best friend into a Co-Q term

✅ Valhalla & Blood Moon — planting, naming, and passing off two flags in Colorado Springs

KEY QUOTES

🗣️ "I think F3 grabbed me because I had never, or very rarely, been able to talk to other men openly."

😂 "A lot of these guys can just lay it all out on the line, and then five minutes later they're still busting my balls."

🏋️ "I am near the best shape of my life purely because I started going five, six days a week to make friends."

🕸️ "Having that wide net made us not intentional about building a strong close group."

❤️ "I credit my wife for ninety-nine percent of my emotional maturity prior to finding F3."

💼 "Your work pays for your life — it isn't your life."

🙏 "I think that is where I find God: doing the acts that he would want."

🚪 "The worst case scenario is they say no."

🧩 "As soon as I allowed myself to embrace all three aspects is when I felt the most whole within the group — and honestly, within my life."

🪨 "Holding on to your own rock through everything and knowing who you are."

CHAPTERS

00:00 🚗 Kotters & The Carpool EH: Blair Tornado and "Probably Not"

02:39 🥧 First Post at Ironwood & The Pi Tattoo That Named Him

04:59 🗺️ Council Bluffs to Colorado Springs: Drawing the Driving Circle

07:14 🗣️ The Real Hook: Men Who Could Actually Talk

11:56 🕸️ The Pit: The Safety Net That Wasn't Community

13:55 ☕ Six Months to Coffeeteria: Skipping the Second F

15:20 ❤️ The M, The 2.0s & Borrowed Emotional Maturity

19:01 👨‍👦 Fathers, Father Figures & The Adoptive Mentor

23:19 💼 Work In Its Place: "Daddy, Are You Almost Done?"

27:09 🙏 Faith Through Service & Grandpa's Standard

32:13 🏴 The Site Q He Swore He'd Never Be & The Colossus Con

38:31 ⛰️ Jump In: Advice, Valhalla & Blood Moon

42:28 🪨 Steady In The Storm: Prayer Request, NAMO & The Call Sign

EPISODE SUMMARY

On Episode 262 of the Glue-OOM, The Plague and Gator sit down with Zamboni — soccer lifer, co-founder and outgoing Site Q of The Riptide — to trace his path from three career-ending ACL tears and a 265-pound low point to becoming one of F3 Omaha's steadiest voices on accountability. Zamboni opens up about losing his soccer identity, learning to listen to his wife instead of his ego, and how Queen Service turned into the sustainable, thirty-pounds-down answer he'd been chasing for years. It's a conversation about resurfacing — literally and spiritually — after the ice gets rough.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS (✅)

• The EH that started it all
• The Ice Rink Origin Story
• The Pit — Three ACLs in 18 Months
• His Mom's "What's Next"
• Cracking the Identity Code
• The Posting Sprint
• Queen Service Testimony
• "Hamster Wheel" Self-Diagnosis
• Shield Lock, Faith & Grief
• Founding The Riptide
• Post-Site-Q Blues
• Rapid Fire

KEY QUOTES

• "I was depressed and I was sad and I really didn't know how to navigate through it all, and I resorted to alcohol and drugs and making poor decisions." — 05:51
• "It stinks that you can't play anymore, but life goes on. What's next in your journey?" (his mom) — 10:28
• "I didn't want my identity to be in soccer anymore. I wanted to try something different and really focus on being a good husband and being a good father." — 12:51
• "It's an accountability factor of what I'm putting into my body and what I'm putting into my mind." — 24:18
• "Here I am, twenty-four weeks later and I'm thirty pounds down." — 26:38
• "I felt like I was on this hamster wheel of fitness... I wasn't feeling like I was getting any healthier." — 28:59
• "F3 gives you grace and meets you where you're at." — 40:36
• "I call it the post site Q blues." — 45:17
• "Just remember: KISS. Keep it simple, stupid." — 45:17
• "How about those shoes, Zamboni?" — 49:54

CHAPTERS

1. Prayer & Kickoff — 00:00
2. The EH at Starbucks with Swiss Army — 01:37
3. First Post & The Ice Rink Origin of "Zamboni" — 03:36
4. The Pit: Three ACL Tears and the Fall to 265 — 05:51
5. Rebuilding: Marriage, COVID Gym & Faith Sparks — 08:07
6. Hanging Up the Whistle: Identity Beyond the Job — 10:28
7. Posting Progression, Pre-Running & The Murph — 15:13
8. Brotherhood Found: Friendships Before and After F3 — 19:52
9. Queen Service: Accountability, Donuts & 30 Pounds Down — 24:18
10. Shield Lock, Faith & Wrestling With Grief — 31:21
11. Founding The Riptide & The Site Q Blues — 42:55
12. Rapid Fire & Prayer Requests to Close — 49:54