Two Grumpy Vets and a Duuude

In this week’s episode of Two Grumpy Vets and a Dude, we kick back for a classic catch‑up that ranges from veteran benefits wins and smart money advice to gear talk, off‑roading tales, photography nerdery, and everyday life. We celebrate a friend finally securing a 100% VA rating and unpack what back pay, legal reviews, and disciplined budgeting can look like for vets. Then it’s straight into shop talk: Crocs sizing misadventures, trail carnage at Hidden Falls, the real costs of off‑roading parks, axle weights and overweight permits, and the grind of long-haul delivery days. We also dive into phones, batteries, and easy upgrade tips, and share some kitchen-table wisdom on fried potatoes, sausage, and the indispensable cheese tax for our four-legged copilots. 

 On the creative front, Rich geeks out on water‑drop photography—gear, flash timing, focus planes, and color experiments—plus a handy depth‑of‑field simulator tool for shutterbugs. We round things out with music nostalgia, bidet banter, MRE currency economics, and why we keep this show sponsor‑free: so we can speak freely, laugh loudly, and let you decide the value. If you got a chuckle, a tip, or a fresh idea, pay it forward by sharing the show or sending in your art and feedback. Until next week—be safe, be smart, and don’t forget the cheese tax.

Website of the week - https://dofsimulator.net/en/

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• Real Work From Anywhere — Remote job board, Brian's Website of the Week
• Sourcegraph — Engineering AI tools company, mentioned as a job listing example
• KEH Camera — Used camera gear marketplace, discussed for lens shopping
• MPB — Used camera gear marketplace, also discussed
• MIOPS — Smart camera triggers; Rich is using the Splash kit and Smart+ for water drop photography
• Kraken — Crypto exchange Rich uses; Bitcoin was live on screen during the episode
• podcastapps.com — Find a modern Podcasting 2.0 app that supports live notifications, chapters, transcripts, and more
• Podverse — Podcasting 2.0 app, mentioned as a listener option

• Time: Share the show on Facebook, Instagram, X, Mastodon, Blue Sky, or wherever you hang out online.
• Talent: Got art skills? Send us 2000x2000px episode or chapter art. We'll put your name in the show notes.
• Treasure: Hit the Support the Show link in your podcast app, or reach out directly.

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Three friends, zero sponsors, one biblical amount of rain. This week Rich is basically living in a bayou — the Mississippi Gulf Coast got hammered with over five inches of rain in a single week, and Bella has strong opinions about wet grass. Also, the local frogs sound like kittens and it scared the daylights out of everyone.

Brian shares a powerful Memorial Day story — a last-minute drive to pay respects to PFC Tucker, a soldier he served as casualty assistance officer for, and the remarkable discovery that a stranger who stood vigil at the grave for 18 years had been in the same four-man fire team with Tucker — separated by 30 years and two different wars.

From there the guys cover just about everything: DIY urns with recliner inserts, Harvard handing out 5.0 GPAs, the Dunning-Kruger effect and armchair experts, Reddit karma games, the fine art of haggling SiriusXM down to $4.99 a month, Brian's new banjitar (yes, banjitar), and why Canada's MAID program should concern everyone paying attention.

Rich drops an AI voice income update — $293 since January and climbing — and Brian shares his website traffic wins with 800 questions for couples pulling in 250 visitors a day. The guys also make the case for de-Googling your life, why Linux gives you more convenience on your own terms, and as always, why this show will never have a mattress ad in the middle of your conversation.

In this episode:

0:00 — Welcome to the Show

Support the show (Value for Value):

Rich: [email protected]

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• Crocs
• Hey Dude Shoes
• Cruisin' the Coast
• Standard Notes
• Idiocracy (2006)
• Sansevero Chapel Museum
• Modern Podcast Apps

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In our 100th episode, the three of us do what we’ve always done best: show up for each other and talk like real friends. Bryan opens with a peek behind the scenes on tinkering with an AI‑assisted WordPress podcast player, which sparks a spirited debate about AI hallucinations, trust, and how to push back on bad outputs. From there, we wander joyfully through big and small topics—media hype around health scares, movie rabbit holes from Star Wars to Yellowstone (and why some sequels land while others don’t), favorite actors, comedy greats, and the art of storytelling. We also touch on life, legacy, and how we’d want to be remembered, grounding it with a simple reminder to invest in real human connection. We close with gratitude for 100 episodes, an invite to support the show via value‑for‑value (share, time/talent, treasure), and a challenge for the week: go visit someone in a nursing home who doesn’t get many visitors. Thanks for riding with us—here’s to the next 100.

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It's a packed night in the Two Grumpy Vets and a Duuude studio — and yes, we're back live! Rich finally got BUTT sorted out through a little terminal magic, and we're streaming live to Podhome once again. While we're at it, we've got some thoughts on TrueFans and their sudden need to know everything about everybody — spoiler: they contribute exactly 0.4% of our total downloads over two years, so the bar is set accordingly.

From there the conversation goes exactly where you'd expect it to — everywhere. Ron's roller skating past gets fully excavated, including his time as the rink cop at Fort Sill and his brief career managing the skate counter. The guys make their case (again) for the world's most needed podcast that Ron refuses to make.

Rich drops some solid Bible advice for Ron just getting started — skip the King James, skip the Ethiopian Bible for now, and head straight to BibleGateway.com for audio versions of the NASB or NIV. You can listen while you drive. Simple.

The guys also get into the DJI drone ban situation and why the FAA and FCC comment period felt more like a speed trap than a public process. Rich is making his comment. Trucking war stories make their appearance courtesy of Ron — including the legendary attempted U-turn with a three-axle gooseneck trailer on a blind curve at 70 mph. DOT inspection week is coming May 12-14, so keep your load locks where they belong.

The conversation winds through oil markets, big energy versus the little guys, the placebo effect, Chinese medicine, addiction as a coping mechanism, and pharmaceutical commercials that keep inventing new names for old problems. It's a lot. That's kind of the point.

Rich also drops richcmedia.com — go check it out.

Oh, and next week? Episode 100. Yeah. That's happening.

If this show brought you something worth keeping, consider returning the favor — time, talent, or treasure. Find a Podcasting 2.0 compatible app at podcastapps.com and support directly from there, or reach out and let us know how you want to help.

Check in on your elderly neighbors. Not everybody has family close by. Go introduce yourself. The best stories you'll ever hear are sitting right down the street.

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This week on Two Grumpy Vets and a Duuude, the guys kick things off with a spirited debate that no one asked for but everyone needed — Primus. Bryan sends a video, the Duuude loses eight seconds of his life he'll never get back, and Rich tries to explain what a recognizable song actually means. Spoiler: "My Name is Mud" is not the answer anyone was looking for.

From there the crew takes a detour through the golden age of MTV (when it actually played music), the birth of reality TV, and why Beavis and Butthead could physically feel brain cells dying in real time. The Duuude makes his case for Court TV. Nobody agrees, but nobody's surprised either.

Rich gives an update on his run-in with AT&T — a $568 surprise bill, a customer service rep named Mark who actually tried, and a $25 credit offer that went over about as well as you'd expect. The whole situation gets resolved the same day with a Sparklight switch that took three and a half hours from first call to fully operational. Sometimes things just work out.

Rich also shares an update on VA acupuncture — session three in, the back spasms are down, he can walk his yard again, and the TENS unit this doctor uses is not your average unit from the pharmacy. Progress is progress.

The guys wrap up episode 98 with a reminder that episode 100 is just around the corner, a tip of the week from the Duuude about saying hello to two strangers a day, and the usual reminder that this show runs ad-free by design — no sponsors, no brand safety, no interruptions.

Value for value. Share it, send chapter art, or drop a few bucks at the PayPal link in your podcast app.

Rich: [email protected] | Bryan: [email protected]

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In this week’s episode of Two Grumpy Vets and a Dude, we kick off with some classic tech gremlins as we fight Zoom, virtual audio cables, and Linux updates before settling in for a wide-ranging, unfiltered conversation.

We trade road-warrior stories about trucks, cruise control, and maddening drivers; diagnose a Jeep’s mystery dash-light fiasco that turns out to be a seven-year-old battery; and debate bass lines, suspenders, Crocs, and whether peanut butter and honey belongs anywhere near bread.

We also wade into heavier ground: media narratives, COVID-era policy overreach, digital IDs, and why anonymity still matters. On the home front, Bryan share's updates on his daughter’s situation, the power of emotional steadiness, and a push to turn her cleaning superpowers into a business.

We wrap with food talk—gumbo, jambalaya, red beans and rice—and a reminder to be kind and help your fellow man, because ten minutes of your time can be priceless to someone else.

Value-for-Value: If we made you laugh, think, nod, or groan, consider returning value with your time (share the show), talent (send in cover art), or treasure (hit the funding link).

Email us:
[email protected] or [email protected]. 
And catch us live via a modern podcast app that supports Podcasting 2.0 when the live item tag is on.

https://serve.podhome.fm/two-grumpy-vets

Support The Show

(00:00:00) Opening banter, tech hiccups, and host handoff in Zoom

(00:06:00) Biloxi trip, Jeep warning lights, and the battery fix

(00:13:45) Grocery deals, chicken parts debate, and pantry priorities

(00:18:45) Pandemic toilet paper talk and compliance vs. control

(00:26:30) Culture shifts, Gen Z and church, screens, and boombox nostalgia

(00:30:00) Iconic bass riffs argument and Primus homework

(00:40:30) Drawer disaster, cuss-fueled fixes, and a tragic Louisiana case

(00:53:45) Linux vs. Windows, USB woes, and Resolute Raccoon

(01:10:30) Police, rights, speeding realities, and CDL road rants

(01:26:45) Coast-to-coast trucking days and the shift to hopping freight

(01:37:45) Barracks life hacks, waxed floors, and pager alerts

(01:49:15) Family updates: Alexis, Max, and navigating tough relationships

(01:58:45) Turning cleaning skills into a business and pricing strategy

(02:08:45) Why restaurant food tastes the same and craving real spice

(02:18:45) Authentic Mexican vs. Tex‑Mex and the case for Cajun heat

(02:23:15) Simple breakfasts, grilled cheese pride, and comfort food

(02:27:00) Value‑for‑value, live tags, and modern podcast apps PSA

(02:36:15) Wrap‑up, downloads, and the Dudes be kind credo

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This week on Two Grumpy Vets and a Dude, we go full shop-talk-meets-life as we swap war stories from the garage, the cab, and the command line. I kick things off with a painful-but-successful rear brake overhaul on the Jeep and a Linux upgrade that rewarded me with the dreaded purple screen of death—then a rollback, Pi-hole victory, and plans to automate our show workflow with n8n. Ron unloads a maddening roadside blowout saga, a camera-based safety system that docked him points for doing the right thing, and a spirited takedown of AI-without-common-sense. From hotshot load securement and DOT quirks to scooter hacks for cruising the pits, we veer into future plans for Cruisin’ the Coast, wild weather swings, lovebugs, and why common sense and real-world experience still matter more than any rulebook. Between the laughs, we get candid about parenting, personal responsibility, and how we keep this show sponsor-free through value-for-value. If you got a laugh, a groan, or something to think about, pass it on—time, talent, or treasure. Until next week, we’ll be wrenching, routing, and rolling—one rabbit hole at a time.

Email Us:
Rich -- mailto://[email protected]
Bryan -- mailto://[email protected]

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• Podhome — Our podcast hosting platform
• OP3 — Open podcast prefix analytics
• PodAnalyst — Deeper listener analytics
• Apple Podcasts Connect — Apple podcast dashboard
• Spotify for Podcasters — Spotify podcast dashboard
• IPFS — InterPlanetary File System — Decentralized file sharing (Brian's next rabbit hole)
• NASA Artemis Mission — The moon mission that sparked the chopsticks debate
• Harbor Freight — Where the air compressor came from
• Whataburger — The Dude's virginity has been claimed
• Checkers / Rally's — Best greasy burger on the Gulf Coast, don't argue
• Podcast Apps — Find a Podcast 2.0 compatible app

• 4 cups Corn Chex
• 4 cups Wheat Chex
• 4 cups Rice Chex
• 3 cups mini unsalted pretzels
• 2 cups Original Goldfish or oyster crackers
• 2 cups peanuts

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp MSG (optional)
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• Optional heat: crushed red pepper, cayenne, or whatever else you want to throw in

1. Mix all wet ingredients together until well combined.
2. Combine all dry ingredients in a large roaster or cake pan.
3. Drizzle wet ingredients over dry and mix until everything is evenly coated.
4. Bake at 250°F. Pull it out every 15 minutes, stir, and put it back in. Repeat until it reaches the consistency you want.
5. Let cool fully before eating. Try not to eat the whole pan.

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The world needs you here.