729: Alright Alright Alright™

24:42About four times what SpaceX's full Starlink is supposed to be running out. And Starlink doesn't even have anything close to that right now. Starlink was going to put up about 49 ,000 satellites. And this new constellation is 193 ,428 satellites. I hope the answer is no. Yeah, because you start packing that many satellites into low Earth orbit, then, you know, we are basically just accelerating the timeline for Kessler syndrome, which is the nightmare scenario where collisions cascade into debris storms and make whole Earth orbits unusable. We've talked about it on the show many, many times. And, you know, filing is easy, though.

25:22Launching and safely managing 200 ,000 satellites without turning space into a junkyard is incredibly difficult. So if this goes, you know, half of me is like, okay, great. Let's just lock us in. We can't go anywhere. Elon will shut the fuck up about Mars, and maybe we can get back to work on problems here on Earth. Just saying, maybe. Maybe that would be the silver lining of the irradiated satellite debris cloud that hangs above all our heads. But we would like no more GPS. That's gone. I know how to read a map. I'm Gen X. Dude, I still have a Thomas guide in my car, and I don't even fucking live in L.A.

26:04anymore. Dude, you can sell it. Next time you come back, give me that. I want that. No way. I'm holding on to that. Now I'm worried about Kessler syndrome. Yeah, that's true. That's true. Because you can't buy them anymore. I tried to buy an old one because they stopped making them, and I really wanted one. I do keep in my Jeep an Atlas of the United States, though, which I did use one time when I drove from Chicago to L.A. without GPS and without a set route. And I just I followed it on my map. And when I got to the Rocky Mountains, I turned south. And that's when I found that giant wind farm, the second largest wind farm in the United States, because serendipity sometimes, people, is good for you.

26:40I'm just saying maybe we can lose the satellites and fuck GPS. All I'm saying. OK, I'm on board.

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28:18media candy Brian, we've talked about Lord of the Rings so much in the past couple months that I said, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going back to Middle Earth. So every night for the past week, I hunker down in front of my giant TV, turn off all the lights, and I watch a little bit of the Lord of the Rings trilogy extended editions. I have now gotten through the first movie, and I'm about 10 % into the second movie. I love it. I absolutely love it. It is so much fun to go back and revisit those movies. I forgot how much fun they were. They're wonderful movies. They're absolutely wonderful.

28:54And they're, you know, normally I like eschew, like, extended editions. Who gives a crap? Like, let's concise, get to the point with a movie. No, I wish there was an extended, extended edition. Just go watch The Hobbit. Then you'll pray for the truncated edition. Yeah. So that's great. That's awesome that you're doing it. Yeah, they're all on HBO Max right now. So I'm just tooling through them at night because by the end of the day, I'm so fried. I just want to relax. And those are perfect relaxing movies because I obviously don't have a glass of wine to sit with and watch. So I just sit there with my puppy and watch the movies.

29:31And it is the perfect way to end the day. So much fun. And I tell you what, the effects really hold up. It's amazing how well the effects hold up. Now, Gollum in episode one, not the best, but in the second movie, Gollum is just like, still, I scratch my head and say, why can't people do effects that good nowadays? Unbelievable. I don't know why. And so many of them were practical effects, which is great. I mean, half the problem is nobody does practical effects anymore. I watched a video on YouTube not too long ago. I'll try and find it and put it in the show notes. It talks about how somebody tried to recreate the Gandalf and Bilbo Baggins scene in The Shire at the very beginning and how they pulled that off.

30:10It is insane how they pulled that off with just practical effects. Just the way the camera had to move and the set pieces. Neither one of them were looking at each other. They had dummies to look at. It's incredible how they pulled that off. So, yeah, the practicals, it's just especially when you know how they did some of that stuff and you watch the movie, you're just like, I don't see it. It's just I just you get so drawn into the movie. It's just like, this is so cool. It's so much fun. I can't wait until my kid is ready. He's still like, you know, it opens with some scary ass orc shit. And he was like, I'm not ready.

30:42I'm out. So maybe this Christmas. We'll see. Oh, yeah. Make him watch it for Christmas. Perfect. It's a total Christmas movie. uh well beast game season two is out i've been watching that for the past uh week and uh it is awesome it is awesome the new episode just dropped yesterday and uh the day before yesterday it is a crossover with survivor for the 50th season of survivor you forget which movie or which show you're watching at that point because it is such an integrated crossover jeff probst is there they're on the survivor island it is fun i beast games is just to me it's just a load of fun i really enjoyed the first season and i'm enjoying the second season too it's it's a blast so i know it's not your cup of tea brian because you don't like competition shows but for competition shows yeah yeah i i'm a sucker for them and i can't wait for season 50 of survivor that's going to be a fun one uh i can't believe i've been watching this show for 50 fucking seasons which is ridiculous and let's talk about starfleet academy brian did you get to watch any of them yet uh yeah you uh we had text we're texting with each other last night to make sure that we were both on board and able to get one episode in.

31:51I liked it so much I watched both. You did. I did. That's a shocker. I ended up staying late. That is a shocker. I watched the first one. I wasn't mad at it, except for a few key things. Now, the bridge looks like it's set on Mel's Diner. I don't like, I'm with you on this. I hate the entire aesthetic and design of the show. I don't like it. It's horrible. It is fucking horrible. It's golden burgundy. I feel like they take way too much from the reboot, from the Kelvin timeline. Lens flares all the time. Like, lighting is horrible. Everything's shiny and looks like it's set. You've got to pull the little plastic off of it, like when you get your new electronics.

32:37Like, it's, I hate the aesthetic. The outfits for the students are horrible. Like, it's just not good. It doesn't look the way I want it to look. But I liked the show. I think Holly Hunter is amazing. I think Paul Giamatti never has to eat again because he chewed up so much of the scenery. It's awesome. See, the funny thing about Paul Giamatti in this is when you watch the trailers for it, I'm like, there is so much cheese here that, you know, it's just like, just cover him in Velveeta and just let him do his thing. But in the context of the show, when you actually get to see the performance with the story, it surprisingly works very well, which is surprising.

33:25Yeah. The ship design. I hated the ship design. I could not stand the ship. You call it the Athena and you give it like Greek wings. What are you doing? Yeah. No. And their comm badges are the ship design, which is no, I don't like it. Not a fan. And what really took me out of it for five minutes, I'm sitting there going, I know this voice. I know this voice. There's a voice from the computer that is the master of students, or the dean of students, who's always talking to the students. And I'm like, I know that voice. It's going to drive me crazy. Who is this fucking voice? And I looked it up, and it's Stephen Colbert, which really took me out.

34:07This is like Adam Savage taking you out of the expanse. It's exactly like that. It totally takes me out of it and pisses me off. Also, there was that one scene where they showed the big wall of all the names of the Starfleet people that went past. The first name that I saw was fucking Wesley Crusher, and it pissed me off. Well, I mean, to Wesley Crusher, I wasn't sure how this was going to go off. Is it going to be a whole bunch of Wesley Crusher's, or is it going to be stupid, woke Discovery again? It's neither. No, it's not. There's touches of it. It's not, don't get me wrong, this is not the next generation of Star Trek.

34:47It's just not. It's a different vibe, a different experience, but I am okay with it so far. Again, quibbles aside about the whole design aspect, like whoever designed this should be fired. We're not gonna, I would love to see it look different. It's not gonna because this is what they picked, but I'm okay with this. I am willing to give this a go. I like the second episode, too. I don't know if you watched it yet. No, not yet. I'm all in right now. I'm all in. Sort of. Trepidatiously. Well, no. Here is my one thing with being all in on this new Star Trek brought to us by Paramount. I got an email from Paramount right before I was about ready to start watching Star Trek.

35:32We're writing to let you know that on January 15th, 2026, we increased the price of our premium monthly plan for new customers to$13.99 per month plus taxes were applicable. As an existing customer, this new price will also apply to you beginning with your renewal on February 22nd. Fuck you. No. You can't. You're canceling all the Star Trek shows I like. You're giving me one new Star Trek show and I watch nothing else on you. There's nothing else on Paramount to Watch. Nothing. So I will not be renewing at this price and I will be watching Star Trek from Sweden. I'll save you a seat. I'll save you a seat.

36:13Yeah, no, I'm looking forward to watching the second episode. I was just so tired last night that I can't, I couldn't. Yeah. And so wake up and do this show. It's a different episode. And I did look at some reviews and they said that, you know, these two episodes give you like two completely different facets of the show, different different feels. And I'd say that's true, but I liked both. So, OK, well, that's something to be said, because like when Strange New Worlds switched it up from episode one to episode two, it was not a good thing. Well, that was that tonal shift was ridiculous. You went from ridiculous or fighting the gorn to having a silly wedding.

36:49Yeah, like, you know, Q's kid episode. It's like, what the hell? No, it's nothing like that. So I think you'll enjoy it. Yeah, so far, like I said, I'm not mad at it. I'm surprisingly not mad at it, which I came in just expecting seething. I was already seething when I just pressed play. I'm like, I'm going to fucking hate this show. And I didn't. So that's a plus. It's a plus. I guess low expectations is really the proper way to live your life is what I'm saying. Absolutely. so our friend Gabriel Pagan made a list on Letterboxd with all the movies we talked about here on Grumpy Old Geeks in 2005 and he calls it the Grumpy Old List there will be a link in the show notes and I had to add a few because there's some things that I didn't add to the show notes that I know we talked about on the show and he went and added those to the show so take a look at it Brian see if there's anything that you think we missed but I think it's a pretty good list if you want to go check out this stuff awesome very cool thank you thank you for doing that and speaking of lists There is one podcast that I still listen to pretty regularly, besides No Such Thing as a Fish.

37:54That is The Ongoing History of New Music, which is done by Alan Cross, who was once the co-host of a sister show of ours to some degree, Geeks and Beats. Remember that one, Jason? Yeah. Yeah, that was a great show. I miss that show. Yeah, so he's the music guy, and he's got his own thing going on where he just talks about various different things and alternative music and all that stuff. It's a good podcast. 30 minutes comes out once a week. but once a year he does a very special episode and it is a little bit depressing so uh i did listen to that this week it's the ongoing history of new music episode 1069 2025 in memoriam in memoriam i don't know why i couldn't spit that out uh so this is the one where he goes through basically everybody that died last year so it's uh it's you know of course it's a bit of a bummer but it's it's nice to hear it and there are some people i definitely missed i didn't realize they had passed away so uh i i wouldn't say i look forward to this episode every year but i do like to listen so enough people are dying daily that i do i have to deal with so let's just yeah okay yeah there there you go and uh finally uh depeche mode has released a new uh sort of concert film called m uh this was shot in mexico and shot by a mexican director it's out on netflix now uh that says it all right there yep that's about it so it's too artsy fartsy there's there's all these different things that have nothing to do with the actual concert that's going on it's all you know it's good on you for making it i'm never going to watch it and actually if i really want to see a depeche mode concert i don't want to see them now when they're like 95 years old and you can see every sagging piece of skin i will go back and watch depeche mode 101 from the heyday back at the Rose Bowl way, way, way back in like 1989 before 4K was a thing.

39:43Well, they've upscaled it and re-released it, which is kind of nice. Oh, that's cool. That's cool. Yeah. So, yeah. Depeche Mode M, though? No. No thanks. Cups and doodads. Well, Brian, we've got the first news about Johnny Ive and Sam Altman's bromance. They're reportedly cooking up their first AI gadget. And yes, it might be coming for AirPods. According to a supply chain leaker with a decent Apple rumor track record, the device codenamed SweetP is a pair of pill-shaped audio thingies that sit behind your ears instead of inside them, charging in an egg-shaped case. Details are fuzzy, but the SafeBet is an AI-first voice assistant powered by ChatGPT.

40:24Think calls, audio playback, and controlling your phone except done through microphones in a two-nanometer smartphone-class chip. The leaker even claims it could handle iPhone-style actions by bossing Siri around, which is ambitious, if not slightly delusional, especially now because we just got new word about Siri, which we will talk about next. But yeah, so, you know, they weren't saying what it was, but yeah. They go behind your ears. Because there's nothing sexier than looking like you've got hearing aids. I know, I know. I'm wondering if it's like, you know, bone induction or however that's going to work.

40:59I don't know what it is, but yeah. Okay. All right. We'll see. I'm probably not. I'm thinking. But yeah, speaking of Siri, Apple's Siri AI will now be powered by Gemini. Apple and Google have confirmed reports that the former will use Google Gemini's models to help power the new version of Siri and other generative AI features. They released a joint statement which reads, Apple and Google have entered into a multi-year collaboration under which the next generation of Apple Foundation models will be based on Google's Gemini models and cloud technology. These models will help power future Apple intelligence features, including a more personalized Siri coming this year.

41:36So, yeah, they're giving up on their own stuff, which is smart, I guess. But it is weird how all these companies are just in bed with each other now. Well, this one makes a lot of sense to me because Apple is way behind the eight ball. They're still trying to, you know, trying to get their feet under them. They're working on their AI chips now. And as far as I can tell from day to day use, I use all this stuff every single day. Gemini kicks the shit out of everybody on every level so far. Not undressing teenagers, though, right? Every level that modern society deems appropriate. How about that?

42:12Well, there's... modern society that i want to hang out with deems appropriate how's that okay because a lot of modern society seems totally okay with it i'm just saying true yeah yeah yeah no i'm actually like you know looking forward to this integration because siri at this point is so fucking useless that it's like oh i turn it off but yeah i just turn it off i turn it off it's useless i still need it to set timers that's it i i my apple watch literally is all the only thing i you Siri for is setting timers. So, right. So Apple is finally doing the thing it pretended it would never do. Starting January 28th, Cupertino is bundling its Pro Creative apps into a new subscription called Creator Studio.

42:58Thirteen bucks a month or$130 a year gets you Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Pixelmator, Motion, Compressor, and Mainstage on Mac and iPad plus a pile of premium features for Keynote, Pages, Numbers, and Freeform. There's a one-month free trial and Students get a very Apple-approved discount at$3 a month. I'm going back to school. You know what? That seems reasonably priced to me, especially in comparison to their Apple One pricing. It actually is. It really is because Apple One pricing is disgustingly high. Disgustingly high. Yeah. Yeah. No, I mean, here's the thing. I bought Logic Pro seven years ago for$249.

43:37I've never had to pay for it again, which is fine by me. I don't use Final Cut, Pixelmator. I mean, this is a good set of tools for people who want to get out of the Adobe ecosystem and get shit done. This literally gets you 85 % of where you need to be, except the problem is you got to use Final Cut Pro, which is a pain in the ass. I just hate their library structure. If their library structure wasn't so fucking convoluted. Anyway, Logic Pro I use every day, so that's a good one. You know, if I didn't own it and I had to pay 13 bucks a month, I wouldn't be pissed. I wouldn't be pissed. And you get some extra add-ons with your other current stuff with your keynote and all that stuff.

44:19So, yeah, probably a pretty good deal. All right. Now just lower the price on Apple One, please. Please. Come on. Please. But speaking of subscription services, Elon's hopping on that bandwagon. Tesla will stop selling its$8 ,000 full self-driving option, which is not full self-driving, and make it strictly a monthly subscription service after february 14th he announced on his x platform he didn't reveal the price or why he's making the switch money money money though full self-driving is already available by subscription for 99 per month or 999 per year this could be advantageous for buyers particularly if they decide to dump their new tesla or trade it in it will also allow prospective owners to hedge their bets as tesla is over promised on the feature since it was first announced.

45:06Full self-driving has never done what the name suggests, as humans must constantly supervise the system and frequently take control. Because of that, it's more of a driver-assist system and doesn't even qualify as level 3 self-driving, conditional automation, let alone as a truly autonomous level 4 or 5 category. He has been touting the self-driving capabilities on Tesla since 2015. Wow, that's a long time. It's a long time. Promising at the time, complete autonomy by 2018. 19. 2020 2021 22 22 It is now 23 26 24 I remember we were doing this show when he came out and said that and we're like bullshit bullshit at least 20 years away always 20 years away and we're still right we're still right we sure are now here's one that really irks me Ring Founder details the camera company's intelligent assistant era Ring founder Jamie Siminoff says artificial intelligence is pushing the Amazon-owned company into a new phase, transforming it from a video doorbell maker into what he calls an intelligent assistant for the home.

46:14Speaking at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Siminoff said advances in AI combined with personal experience convinced him to return to the company he sold to Amazon in 2018. I'm sure there's a giant paycheck involved, too. Siminoff said recent wildfires in the Pacific Palisades, which destroyed the garage where Ring was originally built helped inspire new features. One of them, Firewatch, lets customers opt in to share video during major fire events. In partnership with a nonprofit Watch Duty, I love Watch Duty, they're great, AI analyzes footage for smoke, flames, and embers to help improve emergency response.

46:50Now, another feature called Search Party uses AI to help locate lost pets by matching user-submitted photos with Ring camera footage. Now, you don't need to turn that on. I'm going to tell you right now, the Ring Neighborhood feature that they've got, which is the little community that's built in, already works perfectly without having to share any video to find lost pets. I actually helped a friend who found a pet reunite it with its owner just by using the little app thing that they've got built in. Didn't have to do anything else. It was perfect. So this is just another AI overreach, which they don't need.

47:24Now, here's the one that gets me. Law enforcement partnerships have also returned. Yay. While Ring ended earlier police agreements after backlash, it now works with companies like Flock Safety and Axon. Yeah, fuck Flock. Allowing police to request footage. Siminoff says sharing is voluntary and anonymous if users decline. Voluntary or anonymous if users decline, which means they're going to take it anyway if you decline. Just follow that. Yeah. There is no opt out. No. No, which makes me want to go to my front door and put a piece of black tape over my ring until I can find another one. Yeah, that just pisses me off.

48:08I use the Google Home camera. It's nice. So they'll train the AI on people who come to my front door. I'm running away from a process server right now, so maybe they can use that to help me identify the process servers when they show up at the door so I know when to hide in the back. Yeah, that'll help. and my favorite app of the week. And it reminds me of an app that I came up with a long time ago that I called Death Vault, which didn't really catch on because the name was Death Vault. Everybody's like, that's not really an upbeat name. I'm like, well, it's not supposed to be. It's called Death Vault because if you die, then your documents get sent to people.

48:43This is called Are You Dead? Yeah, it's hard to paint that pig. Yeah, yeah. No, I just want to be. Thank you very much. China's latest breakout app has a blunt name and an even blunter purpose. It's called Are You Dead? And it's designed for people who live alone and worry about what happens if no one notices when something goes wrong. Honestly, I don't care. If I'm dead because I live alone and I have no friends, who gives a fuck what happens to me? So, yeah, the app works by requiring users to check in every day or two by tapping a large button to confirm if they're alive. If they miss a check-in, the app automatically alerts a designated emergency contact.

49:23It costs like two bucks, as written by a couple kids, and now they're branching out. But it's in the news everywhere. When I put this in here, I'd never heard of it, but it's on the nightly news now. It's apparently a breakout hit. Well, it's so ridiculous, that's why. Words.zip is a huge grid of random letters in which users are invited to search for words. I thought about this because I started doing Boggle with the Netflix games, as I talked about last week. And this is just kind of a website that lets you look for words. When you find a word, you can highlight it and commit it to the site's database, at which point the letters become colored and unavailable for further use.

49:59Colors denote how many times the word has been found already, with purple words being the rarest and green the most common. And if you manage to track down a word that no one else has identified yet, you're doing better than we did, according to Gizmodo. What a lovely site. What a great way to learn new words. What good, clean fun for the family. Surely the Internet has embraced the whole thing with a spirit of maturity and restraint, right? Sure. Well, no. The internet has actually done, has drawn a dick on it. Zoom out far enough and you'll see that enterprising users have been arranging colored letters to draw things, and the result is that parts of the grid have started to resemble the door of the bathroom in your local dive bar.

50:36In fairness, the inevitable cartoon Dick and Balls is joined by other non-phallic adornments. Someone has drawn a lovely picture of a cat. And a lovestruck logophile has declared their love for someone named Ada. But mostly you see a dick. Perfect. Welcome to the internet. Welcome to the internet, everybody. First day.

51:10At the library. Well, Brian, I picked up a book right before Christmas called The Anthony Bourdain Reader, new classic and rediscovered writing by Anthony Bourdain. I sent it to you. I didn't know if you got a chance to look at it. I got it on the Kindle, so I actually have to read it. I'm having a hard time getting started with that one because every time I get started, I hear Anthony Bourdain in my head and then I just get sad. So I don't know how I'm going to get through this, but it looks really cool. Did you have any interest in picking this one up? I know you're a Bourdain fan. I am a Bourdain fan.

51:40I don't know if I need to read classic writings. I read all of his old stuff i'm not sure how much new or rediscovered stuff is in there so i i have to take a look at the table of contents but i'm kind of with you like i i have not uh i've not been able to enjoy bourdain in the way i i almost don't want to consume any more bourdain like it's all in the past and i love it and i love him and it kind of bums me out anytime i see him in the news or anything uh i even like i was watching something and like parts unknown came on for a second and I was like, it made me sad. It bummed me out. Yeah. I was like, oh, man.

52:17Yeah, I found that lost season of the taste on Amazon Prime Video, and I watched it, and I was just the whole time, I'm just like, God, Dan, this sucks, you know? You lose the ones you want around, and instead you get all these fucking ICE agents running around. Why can't those fuckers die? Please. So I also read a book called Obvious Adams, the story of a successful businessman by Robert Updegraff. I found out this because I've been watching a bunch of videos by Rory Sutherland. He's the vice chairman of Ogilvy in the UK. I got famous for a TED Talk about a decade and change ago. And I just really like this guy.

52:51He's very smart. He's an advertising guy, obviously, works for Ogilvy. And he's just entertaining as fuck to watch. So he recommended this book. I read it. It was a fantastic book. If you're into the advertising marketing space, this is definitely a must read. just talks about this guy who just finds obvious solutions to complex problems that people just go beat their head against the wall for. It's a short read. It was only like a couple bucks. It was just a fun little book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The other book I just picked up is Before in Laughter by Jimmy Carr. And are you a Jimmy Carr fan, Brian?

53:30No. I have to say I'm not. I've seen a lot of his stuff. And I just Something about him rubs me in the wrong way. I don't know much about him. I just don't. I don't. I don't. Okay. That's the thing about him. It seems to be a love or hate. I'm a lover. I think he's fantastic. I think he's smart as fuck. And, you know, his story, he's got a great story. And it's actually his story, but a bunch of, you know, just tips and tricks of how he got to where he is along the way. Just an average guy who just hunkered down and got really good at doing stand-up and writing jokes. and his crowd work is some of the best in the world.

54:09It's phenomenal. And he's just sharp as a tack. And I love him. And I love this book. It's a great book. So highly recommend checking it out. I think you would actually like this book, Brian. It might actually make you understand why he is the way he is. Okay. It'll make me understand why I don't like him. I think you might turn a corner and actually like him because he's one of us, you know? He's just a Gen X motherfucker who hates people and just makes fun of them. It's great. Okay. So, and I did want to get this in today because the Regicide Report, Laundry Files number 14 by Charles Strauss is coming out January 27th.

54:45Now, this is the final book in the Laundry Files series, which we have talked about since we started this show. And the original protagonist, Bob, is back. And I don't even remember that much about him anymore because there's been like eight books in between when he left the series and came back. So I don't know how this is going to play out, But I'm glad he's finally putting a button on the series, and I will definitely be getting it the day it comes out. What about you, Brian? You going to get it? I don't remember much about it, just like you said. And I kind of dropped off. I stopped reading the series.

55:17I read the first two post-Bob books in the series and stopped. So I didn't like it without Bob. I'm going to have to go back and use Amazon's AI recaps on the books to figure out where everything ended up at and where it's at. But yeah, I'll read it because I did love those books. I absolutely love the original books with Bob in it. So I'd like to see how he ends the story. It all went off the rails pretty quick after he left, from what I recall. There were demons that had taken over the British government, and I don't even know what the fuck happened anymore. So I've read them all, and some are hit or miss.

55:54But all in all, I know the whole story, but I just forget about Bob. What about Bob? I'll hit that Wikipedia page. I'm not going to use AI. The Dark Side with Dave. Welcome to The Dark Side with Dave, the podcaster with the mostest, Mr. Dave Bittner. How you doing, Dave? Welcome back. Not bad. Well, hanging in there is probably the best that I can do these days. I think that's how it's pretty much what we can all get through. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah. Here. Good to catch up. Here. Still here. Still here. So I was, you guys are just coming off the at the library segment. And I thought I want to make a little contribution of my own here.

56:41I read a book that I very much enjoyed last month. It's actually called How to Read a Book. It's written by Monica Wood. And I highly recommend it. It was, I found myself compelled by it and moved by it. It was one of those books that I spent a lot of time thinking about when I wasn't reading it. So, yeah, highly recommend it. It's a good read. How did you get it? Because the link you put in the show notes says it doesn't come out until September 15th of this year. Oh, well, that's a lie. Maybe that's the platform that it's on. I got the audio book through Apple Books and listened to it there.

57:25on a, I had a road trip last month and I basically banged it out over the course of that. So just a quick Google shows that it was first published June 18th, 2024. So it has been out. Yeah. Maybe a paperback is coming. It looks like that was a hardcover. I don't know. Oh, could be. But I very much enjoyed the audiobook. I thought it was well performed and a lot of characters to keep track of and the reader did a great job with it. So if audiobooks are your thing, whatever the one that was on Apple Books I found pleasing. I just added it to my wish list in Audible, so it is there and it is available.

58:01Yes. There you go. And I will actually read the book when I get it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Curious to know how you both feel about it. Excellent. Yeah, I'll put that in as my next read after I finish up this god-awful book I'm reading right now. Okay. Well, I had to bring this up because you two are the homeowners of the group, But this last weekend, I removed and installed a new dishwasher by myself. Wow. And that sucked. That really sucked. How come? The dishwasher that I was removing was built around 1960. And it was the first dishwasher that was ever put in the house. So to get it out was like, it's very heavy and very big.

58:51Right. That's why it was still working 50 years later. Right. That is exactly why. We actually had somebody come out and try and fix it because a little switch inside the door broke. And that's it. Otherwise, when I pulled this thing out, I looked at it. The motor inside of this dishwasher could drive a VW microbus without any problems. Yeah. Seriously. I believe it. Yeah. What we also realized was it was probably why our electric bill is probably$1 ,900 a month. our last so we're like okay let's try and it's broken let's get a new one so we went and bought like the cheapest it was like 350 bucks for the new dishwasher and it was almost as much to get it installed I'm like I'll do it you know I've installed washing machines dryers and all the other stuff I've even done a garbage disposal which was the worst thing I think I've ever installed in my life until now what was so hard about it well the wiring I had to do all of the electrics myself because it wasn't just you plug it into the wall.

59:51You actually had to like strip the wires and make sure, cut off all the breakers of the house, get everything set up. The actual plumbing part, I thought, okay, well, it just goes straight into the, you know, the garbage disposal. Well, the old, see, I had to remove all of the detritus of the 1960s dishwasher that did not have the same kind of, you know, ease of use and convenience of modern day appliances. Right. All the hoses were made out of asbestos. Exactly. This thing was wrapped in the old one was wrapped in an insulated blanket. And when I took it out, I'm like, I just got cancer. That's it.

1:00:29I've got, you know, fiberglass and all my fingers and it was just miserable. But I got it done. Only took five hours. The dishwasher is a weird one. It's like I'm pretty comfortable working with electrical. I'm pretty comfortable working with plumbing. I really don't want to work on them both at the same time. Yeah. There's something about electrical and water. It's like I don't fix my toaster in my tub. That's a bad idea. The actual water hookup is on one side, and right next to it on the other side is the junction box that I have just wired up myself. So you think if this one leaks, I don't know if I'm going to have time to sprint to the fuse box, which is outside and around the back of the house to hit the power to turn it off before everything blows up.

1:01:17But it worked right out of the gate. I did the wet test. No leaks. Power worked fine. Everything worked first try. It only took five hours to do. And because you got a new modern dishwasher, you'll just be doing this again in about three years when this thing shits out on you. That's right. This thing, the motor inside this dishwasher is smaller than the motor that powers my blow up dreidel at Christmas. in the front yard. I shit you not. I shit you not. I've had burritos from Paquito Mas that are bigger than the motor that powers our dishwasher. It's insane. And even when my roommate got it and she opened the door and touched it, it's like, this is the cheapest piece of shit I've ever touched.

1:02:01It is made of aluminum foil. It's like you got it from Timu. Seriously, it is the Timu dishwasher made by GE. But man, But it says the energy requirements for a year are like$24 if you run it every day. I'm like, okay, I'll take it. I'll take it. So a quick tip in case you're not already doing this, which is to run the hot water before you run the dishwasher. So the dishwasher gets hot water, makes a big difference. Yep, do that. But I have done the dishwasher swap out job myself, and mine came when the local Home Depot delivered the dishwasher, having promised installation. And I got home and there was a dishwasher sitting in the middle of the kitchen uninstalled and no installation was forthcoming.

1:02:50So I had to do it myself. The challenge for my installation was that in the time since the original dishwasher had been installed, new hardwood flooring had been put in the kitchen. I had the same problem. I had the same problem. Okay. That quarter inch like really screws you, doesn't it? Yes, it does. It does. It's kind of a matter of like how much give to the countertops have versus. That was half the problem. Right. Yes. Yeah. I'm with you. So let me tell you, the new one I got in there, but boy, I hope I never have to deal with it again because it's in there. It's in there. Yeah. This one's in there.

1:03:32And like I'm putting it in and I'm like and my roommate comes home and she's like, it doesn't fit. I'm like, just go away. It'll fit. I'll get it in there. I'll get it in there. Yeah. A little tap, tap, tinker, tinker. Anybody looking? Just shove the damn thing in. Give me a big enough hammer. I'll get it in there. Yeah, that was the same because we had a pipe burst and we had to get new vinyl floors put in all through the kitchen and actually the whole front of the house. But yeah, there was that extra little bit that wasn't there before that gave you just enough trouble to make it miserable.

1:04:07Yeah. Yeah. Speaking of dishwashers, did either of you grow up with a dishwasher on wheels? No. Okay. I've seen such thing in movies. Yeah. The first dishwasher we ever had, so I would say probably the first five years of my life, we had no dishwasher. My mom just washed the dishes. You had a dishwasher. It was called Mom. Well, that's right. In my house, it was called me. Then we got a dishwasher, but it was on wheels. so it would sit off to the side. And then when it was time to wash dishes, you'd wheel it over in front of the sink and you'd plug it into the wall. And there was a little hose thing that you'd attach to the faucet and then a little drain thing that'd hang over the edge of the sink.

1:04:52And that's how you did the dishes. And that lasted maybe six months. And my mom was like, yeah, no. We're getting a dishwasher. Or we're getting a built-in dishwasher, sure, which I guess, you know, was was quite decadent at the time. Very cool. I've never seen that. That's that just sounds like one of those convenience things like for a New York apartment that you could just slide away when you're done with it and pull it out when you need it. Yeah. You can also take a bath in it like you need for multiple purposes. Yeah. They do make really small countertop dishwashers also. Like if you if you are in an apartment that doesn't have one.

1:05:29Right. They'll, you know, wash half a dozen dishes at a time. Better than nothing, I guess. I suppose so. Well, Dave, when you're not moonlighting as the Maytag man, Hank from Connecticut might have a new job for you. He says Dave's potential dream job has an opening. There is an opening for stage technicians at Disney World. Perfect for theater people who used to be in the A.V. club in high school and links to a Facebook page, which is sus. But whatever.

1:05:58Hank is correct. I do like this but I like it mostly for my oldest son who is a stage technician he does lighting and he is often mentioned that perhaps ending up at Disney World could be on his list of things that he'd like to do so I forwarded this to him and we'll see if anything comes of it but I do appreciate it Hank, not for me but for my son I just wonder how good it really is working for the mouse i don't know it's great it's great people i mean you have to love disney uh but if you do it's fantastic i i um obviously i grew up just two blocks away from disneyland so almost everybody i knew uh we all worked there in high school uh paid well treated you well i know plenty of people that became disney lifers uh from that They never left.

1:06:58They went off to college. They went back to Disney and worked for Disney. My dad worked there after he retired. He used to work for the airlines, US Air, and he really enjoyed it as a retirement job. People love working for Disney. Okay. Good to know. And speaking of Disney news, we have some Disney Star Wars news on April 29th. Luke Skywalker Han Solo Princess Leia Darth Vader and more are finally coming to Star Wars Galaxy's Edge but only at Disneyland Dave you're going to have to make the trek to California come join us one of the early criticisms of Star Wars Galaxy's Edge is that it was set very specifically between the events of Star Wars The Last Jedi and Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker because they wanted to make that immersive environment also that's where the movies were in 2019 when they opened up the theme park land so yeah Yeah, they wanted to make you feel like you were part of that world, but that is now going to change.

1:07:53They have decided to pivot, at least at Disneyland. New storylines will be brought to life on Batuu, spanning multiple eras of the planet's rich history, Disney's website reads. These updates will enable you to experience the Galactic Civil War and New Republic, as well as the Age of the Resistance and First Order. They'll be updating some of the shops. A new droid family will take over the droid depot, and Luke Skywalker will help you find the old lightsaber place. and of course there will be new merch as well uh that also leads to the first major ride upgrade in the area as the millennium falcon smugglers run gets a mandalorian and grogu overlay starting on may 22nd and as they point out this news only applies to star wars galaxy's edge at disneyland in california they're doing nothing to the florida one yet yet so i will be going to disneyland this summer, let me tell you.

1:08:43I wasn't planning on it again, but now I will be. Yeah. So I saw this news and I mistakenly thought this was going to apply to both of the parks. And so now I'm bummed. And you booked your tickets. Great. Now I'm bummed. I would imagine they're going to have to bring this to Florida because I think this is going to be super popular. You know, maybe they're just testing it out in California. But yeah, I mean, this is a no brainer. We've been talking about this for years. This is what they need to do for those of us who love the original trilogy. Why not? I'm glad they've given up on the purity of Batuu and all that stuff and just give us what we want.

1:09:23I want to go to Disney. I want to see Darth Vader. I want to see the original Stormtroopers, all that stuff. I want to see Han Solo and Chewbacca standing in front of the Millennium Falcon. And now they're going to give that to us. So thank you, Disney. It's about freaking time. Yes. And the other thing that they're giving to us is Kathleen Kennedy is stepping down as president of Lucasfilm. So we talked about this. It was the rumor at the time, but has now been confirmed. She will continue as a producer for several Star Wars projects, including the upcoming Mandalorian and Grogu. But they have handed the reins to Dave Filoni and Linwen Brennan, who I don't know, but I'm sure good enough.

1:10:01Filoni's got it. I'm happy. Filoni's taking creative. Brennan's taking business. That's how they're going to split up the duties. Okay. There you go. That works. That's an easy job. I mean, Star Wars just prints cash. Right. Right. Exactly. This is a pretty cake job. It's great. Right. Right. Right. As long as they don't make another book of Boba Fett, they're doing good. Yeah. Even that made fucking money, I'm sure. Probably. Yeah. I see other people have these finance reports, and sometimes they put negative numbers in front of things. What's this red color? Yeah. Well, maybe they'll bring back the acolyte now.

1:10:45That's the forgotten Disney property. That sucks. That was so good. I liked it. I liked the show, too. I didn't understand the hate for it. Yeah. Yeah. No, I'm all in on this. I think we're in good hands with Dave Filoni. So let's see where it takes us. All right. A couple things before we run. I just update. I forgot to mention, I got a lock picking kit for Christmas. Oh, fun. Yeah. How the neighbor's taking that. Well, so far so good. I actually haven't done much playing with it yet, so I cannot say that I have any lock picking skills other than those I already brought to the table beforehand.

1:11:25Yeah, you seem like somebody who already knows how to pick locks. uh i do in theory and i i know how to jimmy locks i would say more than than anything um i know how to get in places when i need to let's put it that way yeah uh uh but so i you know this i was inspired by the lock picking lawyer and uh that's where i bought the kit so i'm gonna dig in on that and hopefully do some practicing and and nothing will hold me back cool throw a link in the show notes for that because I need a new kit. I loaned mine out to somebody and they never gave it back. And I love picking locks. I learned to do that in that urban escape and evasion class that I took.

1:12:08And you do have to practice because otherwise, you know, it's a skill and it will atrophy for sure. Yeah, it seems like it. And like so many of these things, he makes it look so easy, right? Yeah. Because he's been doing it for decades and you go, oh, how hard could it be? So I'm sure I'm in for banging my head against the desk quite a bit. But, you know, because I need another nerd hobby. And so lock picking is going to be it. Yeah, just pick up a couple of master locks to practice on because those are so easy to pick. They make you feel good that you can pick them so fast. Then you realize you never should ever buy a master lock if you want to lock anything up because they're garbage.

1:12:47Yeah, you know, it's true. So, yeah, I'll keep you posted on that as my progress progresses. progresses. Yeah. So another thing I wanted to touch on for the past year or so, I've been having lunch on Tuesday afternoons with a group of very old ham radio operators. Are there any other type? Well, yes, I understand old ham radio operator is redundant. Except the kid that you went through class with. That's right. That's true. Yes, there are a handful of youngsters and the particular ham radio club that I'm a member of nearby here does have a youth group of high school age kids who are into this and making antennas out of old soup cans and things like that.

1:13:33But I've been enjoying having lunch with these old guys. It's at a local deli, which is just perfect. And it is like you went to Central Casting and said, give me the craziest group of old, cranky, ethnic stereotypes that you possibly could and put them together with one extremely nerdy thing in common. And I'm loving it. I'm absolutely loving it. It took a little while for some of them to accept me. Too young? Yeah, I'm too young. When you said it was at a deli, I was like waiting for you to say like, oh yeah we get they get together at a sushi place oh my god no of course it's a deli no no it's a deli it's like an old new york's canter yeah yeah uh and um it just it it's it's interesting because you know you hear that um the older generation senior citizens one of the things that they complain about and one of the things that is hard on them in their lives is that people don't ask them for their opinions anymore.

1:14:45People don't ask them to share their expertise because they figure they're old and what do they have to share? They should get a podcast just like us. There you go. Where we can put it out there and it can still be ignored. Yeah, exactly. But with these guys, I can ask them all sorts of things about ham radio and they know the answers and they can explain it to me. And so I learn a lot from them, but also I just laugh a lot because they're old and cranky and have all of the things that old, cranky – they lack all the filtering that people who are old and cranky lack filtering on. So they say these things, and I sit there and I smile and I roll my eyes and I say, just let it go past.

1:15:35Just let it go past. Don't engage. Don't engage. They really should get a podcast then. Yeah. Radio was great until they let the Italians on. Exactly. Exactly. It's that kind of thing. Only worse. I picked Italians because I think they can take it. Yeah. Yeah. There's a quote from one of the guys recently. He said, he said, I've solved all my problems when driving in the car. I never let women drive. Never. I only drive. Women can't drive. I'm the only one who drives if I can't drive we don't go okay good for you so it's that sort of thing anyway it also makes me feel young which is nice it's happening less and less you know one of the jokes that I share with my wife all the time is like anytime I start to feel bad about life or my life I just watch 16 and Pregnant and instantly feel so much better about all my life's choices Yeah.

1:16:36Yeah. See, I just go to Walmart. I just go shopping at Walmart and I'm good. I feel skinny, sexy, and smart. Yeah. Right. Well, Walmart's good. Walmart's good. Yeah. So anyway, I highly recommend engaging with your senior community and your neighborhood. It will make you feel younger and you never know what friends you might make or how entertaining they may be. And they'll probably eventually be appreciative that you're there because, you know, your questions, if you treat them with respect and ask them questions, they'll appreciate that and help make them feel good as well. Maybe one day they'll pick up your brisket sandwich, even though it was a little dry.

1:17:15That's right. Oh, my God. The poor waitress who serves us. Lori, her name's Lori. It's the same lady every week. And Lori's probably 10 years older than me. So no spring chicken, but still younger than any of the other guys at the table. And they just run her ragged. I mean, and they, you know, she's a good sport about it. And, you know, I give Lori the largest possible tip you can possibly give anyone because of all of them. But, yeah, just, I mean, if anything's not that the if anything's out of order. she hears about it in no uncertain terms. Oh, the other thing I love, this deli has a fixin's bar with pickles and olives and all that kind of stuff.

1:18:11Yeah. A fixin's bar is not a salad bar. Can I just say a fixin's bar is not a salad bar? No, but it's good for Bloody Mary's. Except for Bob. Bob in our group comes in, stops by the fixin's bar, comes to the table with a big plate full of all the fixings as if it were a salad. And I just smile and nod and let him be him. So this sounds awesome. I want to go. Yeah. I mean, you could not make up a sitcom or, you know, like this. It's just really something. And they all love each other and they all hate each other. You know, it's that kind of dynamic. They're all, yeah, anyway. Last but not least here this week, I have another potential fursona for myself.

1:19:05You guys remember H.R. Puffin stuff? Yep, yes. Remember Witchy Poo? Vaguely. Witchy Poo was the bad guy in H.R. Puffin stuff. She was the one who was always trying to get the magic flute. And Witchy Poo had two henchmen. Their names were Orville and Seymour. And Orville was a kind of a vulture. And Seymour was a spider. And so I put a picture of Seymour the spider in the show notes here. And I've never seen anyone cosplay as Seymour the spider. I think this could be a good persona. For a good reason. The only people that remember would be your old ham group. That's true. There's probably one of them inside there.

1:19:51Yeah. Yeah. But I kind of you know what I like about the Seymour the spider outfit is is how flattering it is. You know, like no one. It's not like, I don't know, dressing up like Spider-Man where you have to have anything resembling a physique. This is just a big furry blob with arms coming out. You could eat at that fixin's bar every day and wear this outfit. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah. With six arms, you can get lots of fixins. That's true. Yeah. So we'll see. I don't know. It's another one. We'll add it to the list of possibilities. That's a good one. That's a good one. I think that's going to be a custom build.

1:20:30I don't think you're going to find that off the rack anywhere. Oh, yeah. It's definitely not off the rack. No, no, no. That is a custom build. Although, you know, looking at it, it's not like they were all that precise when they made the original. No. True. I'm pretty sure I see some duct tape. Yeah, pretty much. All right. Talk to you soon, guys. See you. Closing shout outs!

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1:22:34Amen. On long drives, I love listening. I save a number of episodes, and then the drive just flies by. They never seem out of date, always provide useful information, and some that is just funny, which is also useful on long drives. I've been part of this world since I bought my first Compaq computer before compact even had hard drives so i guess i also qualify as an old geek keep up the geeking and give give give thanks are nice green is nicer did you write this jason i did not write this but damn appreciate it all right thanks from the ham group from dave there and uh r.i.p scott adams we've talked about scott many times on this show after he went cuckoo nutty uh because i i knew Scott before he went cuckoo nutty.

1:23:14So this is a bittersweet. I actually got an autographed book by him in my in my library, God's Debris, back when he was not crazy. Because, you know, when when mainstream media calls you a disgraced and racist turd blossom, you might have made some wrong turns. Could have, you know, listened to doctors. Yeah, maybe. Yeah. Yeah. Well, there you go. Should have would have. Should have would have. Until next time, I'm Jason DeFillippo. and I'm Brian Schulmeister. Thanks for listening to Grumpy Old Geeks. Get all the links and goodies from today's episode at gog.show slash 729. Want to keep the grumpiness alive?

1:23:48Toss a few bucks our way at gog.show slash donate. Every penny helps keep the show on the air. Love the show? Share it. There's a share button in your podcast player. You also got a mouth. Use it to spread the grumpiness to friends, foes, and everyone in between. We'll love you for it. Swing by gog.shows to join our Discord and chat with us and other show fans. Got thoughts, feedback, cool links? hit us up at gog.show slash contact and don't forget to leave a five-star review at gog.show slash review and we'll read it on the show and guess what we've got the merch snag your grumpy gear now at shop.gog.show and stay grumpy