Episode 79 – When the Poo Emoji Hits the Fan

Scott: Friends with Brews.

Scott: Hi, Peter.

Peter: Hi, Scott.

Scott: Hey, Peter.

Scott: I thought about a new podcast we could do.

Scott: It’s about Apple devices and their incredible use of AI.

Peter: Oh, I thought you were thinking about telling me about things that fit in your pockets.

Scott: It’s called Look at This Glowing Idiot.

Nilay Patel: So the stakes for Amazon are so low, right?

Nilay Patel: They’re not Google, where it has to be good and they have to get it out and the future of all search depends on Gemini.

Nilay Patel: They’re not Apple, where they’re like look at this glowing idiot.

Scott: That’s Nilay Patel on the Vergecast describing Siri and what can only be described as the most accurate terms possible.

Peter: So you can’t change the wake word for Apple devices.

Peter: The Amazon devices do let you choose from A, Lex, you know, or the reverberation of sound that makes when a sound wave bounces off a solid object.

Peter: I can’t say that because I’ll activate mine.

Peter: Or you can also change it to Amazon.

Peter: So that might be setting off some people’s devices.

Peter: You can also call it Ziggy, which is hilarious because my neighbor used to have a dog named Ziggy.

Peter: So sometimes I tried that once.

Scott: Isn’t Ziggy the stupid transponder or the stupid future device on, what was the one with Bakula where he used to hop from body to body?

Peter: Oh, Quantum Leap, what’s that?

Scott: Yeah, Ziggy was the thing that the guy was always talking to.

Peter: That’s funny.

Peter: I didn’t make that connection.

Peter: Okay, cool.

Peter: Anyway, but yeah, there’s no way to change, you know, our beloved, question mark, Apple dingus.

Peter: So, but we can refer to it as the glowing idiot.

Scott: That’s right.

Peter: All right.

Peter: What are you drinking today, Scott?

Scott: Peter, I have coffee.

Scott: And I would love it if I could find the tab that tells me about my coffee.

Scott: It is this one I got from Trade Coffee.

Scott: So although it’s a brand that you can buy, it’s a real coffee brand, of course, it’s an actual coffee roaster, but I couldn’t find this particular combination on their website.

Scott: So this is either a trade special or else they’ve moved on to something else right now.

Scott: But this is Bird Rock Coffee Roasters, Ethiopia.

Scott: And they have other Ethiopian coffees on their site now, except for the besides this one, instead of this one.

Scott: Uragua, U-R-A-G-A.

Scott: And the way trade describes it is, big flower aromas and a complex fruity flavor that reminds us of raspberries.

Scott: It makes uragua perfect for lovers of delicious Ethiopian coffee, and the flavor profile is light medium and the tasting notes are florals, berry fruit and ripe fruit.

Scott: Now, bear in mind, and this opens another conversation, but bear in mind that I did reheat this in the microwave just now, so it probably doesn’t taste anything like it used to.

Peter: I assure you, I won’t be able to tell the difference.

Scott: I don’t know.

Scott: This coffee is okay.

Scott: I made this with the AeroPress.

Scott: I’ve gone 100% back to the AeroPress lately.

Peter: Welcome back.

Scott: And I think that if I had made this with pour over, it would be quite bitter.

Scott: It’s slightly bitter right now, but I also find that microwaving, reheating a coffee over the microwave slightly enhances the bitterness and I don’t know why.

Scott: But anyway, it’s okay.

Scott: I will definitely mid thumb this, side thumb this, which as you know, Peter is a thing on our website now.

Scott: We have a side thumb.

Peter: We do have a side thumb because sometimes in the spirit of following one of my favorite podcasts, The Weekly Planet.

Scott: The Weekly Planet?

Scott: The Weekly Planet?

Peter: Right.

Peter: We decided to make our ratings the same as theirs, exactly the same.

Peter: So they do best movie ever, worst movie ever, and if they can’t decide, then it’s a movie.

Peter: So I figured we should do the same thing.

Peter: So instead of best coffee ever, worst coffee ever, we should have, it’s a coffee.

Scott: It’s a coffee.

Peter: Or it’s a drink, or it’s a brew, right?

Peter: So today I am drinking, new to the podcast, Wegman’s Bold Habitat whole bean coffee, super premium.

Scott: But is it super premium Max Pro?

Peter: No, it’s not Ultra either, nor is it Air, or is it, nor Mini, or, you know, any of those things.

Peter: It is a desktop though, because I am drinking it on my desktop, coffee cup warmer.

Peter: Smooth with notes of rich cocoa, blend of beans from Honduras, Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil, from crop to cup, sourced and roasted with care.

Peter: Our supplier partner direct relationships with global coffee farmers to yada yada yada yada yada yada.

Peter: Free of artificial colors and blah, blah, blah.

Peter: Ingredients, Arabica coffee.

Peter: Bold habitat.

Scott: It sounds like they were basically escaping South America and they were just grabbing coffee beans at every place they went through.

Peter: Right.

Peter: They were probably following John McAfee on his trips.

Scott: That’s true.

Peter: Did I send you that clip when I was listening to Better Offline when they were talking about McAfee?

Scott: No.

Peter: No, I think I started to make it.

Peter: I was walking the streets of Lisbon, Portugal last week.

Scott: As one does.

Peter: Well, one does when they’re in Portugal.

Peter: Sure.

Peter: So I was walking and I was listening to Better Offline.

Peter: They’re doing a week long CES series.

Peter: I think this was like day two.

Peter: And they were talking about all the crypto bros and scams.

Peter: And one guy said, you know, whatever happened to McAfee, we need him to come back.

Scott: Come back?

Scott: Does he know that the guy’s dead?

Peter: Well, that’s the point.

Scott: Oh.

Peter: They’re just saying like, you know, he was like ahead of his time or something like that, talking about the crypto bros.

Peter: Oh, I know I stopped to extract that audio file.

Peter: Maybe it didn’t go through.

Peter: I definitely had a little bit of, you know, Verizon weirdness when I was changing countries.

Peter: But I do remember taking the time to stop and extract that audio clip to you.

Peter: Maybe it didn’t go through.

Peter: Maybe you didn’t get it.

Scott: I don’t know.

Peter: Anyway, yeah, they talked about his, you know, trip to like Costa Rica or Belize and yada yada.

Peter: And I was like, yeah, you know, they should he could he could teach the Bitcoin bros and the NFT bros a thing or two right now.

Peter: Anyway, that’s that.

Peter: But this is good.

Peter: I like this coffee.

Peter: This one is definitely a thumbs up.

Peter: No question.

Peter: This is not a side thumb.

Scott: What are the tastes?

Scott: What did you say the tasting notes are supposed to be?

Scott: And do you taste them?

Scott: Because I didn’t taste any of my tasting notes smooth with notes of rich cocoa.

Peter: I will concur with that.

Scott: I sure as hell don’t get any raspberries from mine, by the way.

Scott: So here’s some notes I want to say about tasting coffee for this podcast.

Scott: Number one is, the coffees definitely taste different.

Scott: They’re much less bitter.

Scott: It’s impossible to make a bad coffee with the AeroPress.

Scott: However, what I’m worried about is that it’s also losing some of the strength of the flavors that I’m supposed to taste.

Scott: With pour-over, it can be more acidic, it can be more bitter.

Scott: I have to be careful how I brew it, but I’m positive that I’m getting the flavors that they’re talking about.

Scott: You know, if indeed I believe that it’s a coffee that has those flavors in it.

Scott: Like if I’ve tasted flavors in coffees where I’m like, yep, that’s listed.

Scott: I don’t know yet on my return to AeroPress if I believe that about the AeroPress or not.

Scott: I am worried because of the difference in process and because it’s so much of a smoother cup that it’s also refining some of those flavors out.

Scott: If you catch my drift, what I’m thinking is it takes all coffees and kind of makes them more similar to each other than they would be otherwise.

Peter: It normalizes them.

Scott: Yeah.

Peter: Normalizes coffee.

Peter: That’s possible, you know, in the spirit of Apple, you know, making all music sound the same because, you know, like cutting off the high ends and stuff.

Peter: Whatever.

Peter: I don’t know what I’m trying to say.

Scott: I don’t either.

Scott: No one does.

Peter: But yeah, there we go.

Peter: So yeah, Wegman’s Bold Habitat and I’ve linked that.

Peter: Oddly enough, when I searched for it online, I found a link to it on amazon.com.

Peter: And I was like, wow, you can order Wegman’s food from Amazon, but it shows as currently unavailable.

Peter: So you can’t.

Peter: So never mind that.

Scott: The other thing I want to state is that I don’t put any cream in the coffee that I drink for, I don’t put anything in the coffee that I drink for the podcast.

Scott: I have started putting little bits of oat milk in the decafs that I drink in the afternoon.

Scott: And it’s good.

Scott: I like it.

Scott: But I don’t put anything in my morning cup, my first I need to wake up now cup.

Scott: And I don’t put anything in cups that I brew for this podcast because I want to try, I want to give it a good honest attempt to taste that **** raspberry that’s clearly not in this coffee.

Peter: Generally, if I get coffees that taste like raspberries, I’m not going to enjoy them because it’s going to be too acidic and floral and citrusy, which generally gives me a headache.

Scott: There’s the balloons.

Scott: Hello!

Peter: It gives me balloons, like a party, yeah.

Scott: By the way, you’re supposed to say **** raspberries.

Scott: I had a boss that he would always be so happy when he would say it to people and they’d always be so confused because they didn’t know what to make of it.

Scott: But whenever they were telling him something and they seemed somewhat emphatic, he would always say, end all your sentences and damn it, because he wanted them to have the conviction to their beliefs.

Scott: I thought it was hilarious and people would just stare at him like he was on drugs.

Scott: Anyway.

Peter: I will say I like Wegman’s bold habitat, damn it.

Scott: Good.

Scott: Good, good, good.

Scott: All right.

Scott: So we were talking about side thumb and we were talking about things that may or may not deserve side thumb.

Scott: And you wanted to recant of the error of your ways.

Peter: Yeah.

Peter: I mean, more importantly, I wanted to go back and see maybe there were some things that were thumbs down that were okay, you know, like if I were desperate, but if I were desperate, I think that’s still a thumbs down, right?

Peter: I would say, you know.

Scott: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Scott: If they’re, but maybe you could see some that you thumbs down that, all we’re doing is clearing the deck.

Scott: We’re just saying, are there any that we thumbs down that could actually be side thumb?

Scott: Maybe not.

Scott: Who cares?

Scott: Let’s figure that out.

Scott: But first, Peter, your coffee last time, well, you gave it a side thumb and you would like to amend that.

Peter: Yeah.

Peter: I went back to it.

Peter: I had a cup after being in Europe for about 10 days and having pretty good coffee over there.

Scott: Tell the people what it was.

Scott: It was Clive Owen’s or something.

Scott: Orrin Hatch.

Peter: Orrin…

Peter: So I’ve just searched for Peter Says Thumbs Down.

Peter: I need to go back and clear that filter now and just go back to the brews.

Peter: Orrin’s Coffee NYC.

Peter: So Peter says side thumb.

Peter: When I smell this, I think I smell pencil lead.

Peter: This is drinkable.

Peter: It’s better with a little bit of cream.

Peter: No, it’s not.

Peter: It’s not drinkable.

Peter: I made myself a cup of that after being in Germany and Portugal for like around a week or so.

Peter: And every coffee I had over there was better than this one.

Peter: This is adjusted.

Peter: So my very first side thumb has, I am adjusting it down to a strong thumbs down.

Scott: See, that is disappointing.

Peter: It is.

Scott: But that’s okay.

Scott: This is an opportunity to give you, now we have an opportunity to try to give you a different side thumb.

Peter: Very good.

Peter: So we should at least swap one out, right?

Scott: Maybe.

Scott: It’s up to you.

Scott: Be honest about it, though.

Scott: Don’t feel the pressure of having to have a side thumb on your resume.

Peter: Tamper Coffee Oden.

Peter: So that was one from Episode 70.

Peter: It was okay, right?

Peter: I said it was part, but I had to really add it to a mix to make my own blend, to make it really drinkable.

Peter: It’s okay.

Peter: It’s not great.

Peter: So Tamper Oden, that gets re-done to side thumb.

Peter: It’s a coffee.

Peter: That’s what I’ll say.

Scott: That was a thumbs up one, though.

Peter: I know, but it’s not that good because I have to blend it.

Peter: I have to cut it with other stuff to make it actually drinkable.

Peter: So it’s not that good on its own.

Scott: No, you’re just confusing me because our rule was we were going to look at all our thumbs down ones and your search term that you entered was thumbs down.

Scott: So how did you wind up with a thumbs up one that you’re side thumbing?

Peter: I was just searching all of them and this one came up.

Scott: Okay, that’s fine.

Scott: It’s fine.

Scott: It’s fine.

Scott: It’s fine.

Scott: I just didn’t know the rules.

Scott: What I’m going to do this time is I’m not going to go back and visit all my thumbs up ones because there’s too many.

Scott: I want to do that some other time when we have precious time to do it.

Scott: What I’m going to do is look at all my thumbs down and say, I’m going to list them one by one and I’m going to say, should this have been a side thumb?

Scott: So the side thumb, there’s one called Let the Games Begin.

Scott: It’s a coffee.

Scott: It’s a drink coffee, do stuff coffee, which is a stupid name for a coffee company.

Scott: By the way, your tamper Odin, that bag was made by their child, their kindergartner.

Scott: They’re like, here, write something on this bag.

Scott: And the kid wrote Odin.

Scott: It’s like, I mean, good for them for not wasting a lot of money on print and stuff like that.

Scott: I will say that.

Scott: Actually, that’s probably the, they’re probably a better coffee company than, than coffee companies like drink coffee, do stuff that waste all the print and make the fancy bags and destroy the universe.

Scott: But anyway, drink coffee, do stuff, let the games begin.

Scott: I gave it a thumbs down.

Scott: And my review was a medium roast.

Scott: That’s all it says.

Scott: What is in your coffee people?

Scott: That’s my, again, I hate websites that say nothing.

Scott: And I said, it’s not my favorite.

Scott: I don’t think I would buy this coffee again.

Scott: No, I’m not going to mid thumb that screw them.

Scott: They deserve their thumbs down.

Scott: Next one is a beer.

Scott: It is the Rogue Santa’s Private Reserve 2021.

Scott: Nope, I’m definitely not changing mine.

Scott: That was a rum barrel chips beer.

Scott: And I don’t like rum barrel chips.

Scott: I’m sorry.

Peter: I do have something to add.

Peter: I do have a couple of downs that I think could be up to side thumbs.

Scott: All right.

Scott: Make sure to make notes of these so that I can fix them later.

Peter: It’s already in the shared notes in FWB 2025 0111, which is the date of this recording.

Scott: It’s almost like I should look at that once in a while.

Peter: You are the one who set up the folder.

Peter: So yeah, I think you should.

Scott: I know.

Scott: But we have notes, we have reminders, we have a website, we have teams, we have audio hijack.

Scott: There’s so many things that you want me to have open at once, Peter.

Peter: We’ll always have FaceTime.

Scott: Very confusing.

Scott: What’s happening to my head?

Scott: It must be hot in here.

Scott: Look at me.

Scott: I’m getting red all over the place.

Peter: Wow.

Peter: So, one of my side thumbs, I would like to revisit.

Peter: Omegang Three Philosophers, which used to be like my favorite beer, but no way on episode, well, no, if you think about it, on episode 51, I thumbs downed it because I couldn’t drink it because it’s just too bloody strong and it wasn’t as enjoyable.

Peter: The trick is I literally need to dedicate an afternoon to finishing a small bottle of this.

Peter: And when I take it in small quantities, it is actually pleasurable.

Peter: But that said, I can’t drink it like I used to.

Peter: So it’s not my favorite by any stretch anymore, but it’s certainly not a thumbs down.

Peter: I highly recommend.

Peter: If you like Belgians, if you like strong Belgians, if you like Belgian quads, this is the beer for you.

Peter: So I’d like to amend it back up to a side thumb, please.

Scott: Okay.

Scott: All right.

Peter: And that is just the straight Three Philosophers.

Peter: That’s not the barrel aged one.

Peter: That’s not the chocolate notes one.

Peter: It’s just a straight up.

Scott: All right.

Scott: We’ll do it if you’re sure.

Peter: I’m sure.

Scott: Do you have any others?

Peter: Tapper, Oden Coffee, we touched on that one and Oh My God, Three Philosophers.

Peter: Those are my two adjustments.

Peter: Other than that, I’d say I’m sticking pretty much with our previous.

Peter: I went through Moderately Desperate Regret.

Peter: That one, that was an episode from August 2023.

Peter: That was great.

Peter: I forget what the brew was.

Peter: Is that Athletic Brewing?

Peter: Or it was like one of the Runwild IPA.

Peter: That’s what it was.

Peter: Athletic Brewing’s Runwild IPA, alcohol-free.

Peter: Yeah, that was like, why?

Peter: No, just no.

Scott: Okay, I am gonna actually change when I lied.

Scott: I am gonna change Bearlick Brew Company Oat Soda, which if you recall, we had while you were here.

Peter: Yes.

Scott: And I’m changing that from a thumbs down to a side thumb, because it was not bad, but it also was highly disappointing given the name and there.

Scott: So side thumb.

Peter: Now, was that the one that your wife gave if I were desperate?

Peter: Because that was the visit that she gave it I were desperate.

Peter: I don’t remember if it was that one or if it was a Kona IPA or a Kona Buffalo, Buffalo, Kona Big Surf thing.

Scott: No, I think she liked the Big Surf, I think.

Peter: Okay.

Peter: Yeah, I don’t remember.

Peter: But that was the trip where the quote, where the phrase, if I were desperate, was coined.

Scott: So that was from her.

Peter: Yeah, she’s the one who said it.

Scott: Man, I should marry her all over again.

Peter: I would if I were you.

Peter: I’m not going to.

Peter: But if I were you, I would.

Scott: Okay, that’s fine.

Scott: I mean, you can if you’re going to, you know, adopt us and make us wealthy beyond our wildest.

Peter: I don’t see that in the cards for me.

Peter: But thanks for giving consent.

Peter: I mean, there’s not a lot of guys who would do that.

Peter: Like, hey, you know what?

Peter: If it doesn’t work out between me and my wife, you can marry her.

Peter: Okay, cool.

Peter: Good to know.

Peter: Thanks.

Scott: I didn’t even say if it doesn’t work out.

Scott: I’m okay with sharing.

Peter: This is true.

Peter: You are.

Peter: Wow.

Scott: I mean, it’s you.

Scott: It’s you and it’s her.

Peter: And then how are things with you and Scott?

Scott: No, I love you both.

Scott: That’s the thing.

Peter: So you just want us both to be happy.

Scott: Cascade Lakes Brewing Company, pineapple IPA.

Scott: I’m not going to change that from a down thumb to a side thumb.

Scott: That one is terrible.

Scott: I’m not going to change Vanishing Point Pale Ale from down thumb to side ale, because it’s hoppy and I don’t like hoppy.

Scott: Take the hop out of there.

Scott: I’m never in a billion years, Peter, going to change the Sewell Maku blueberry garbage from down thumb.

Scott: I’d give it more down thumbs if I could.

Scott: It was an alcoholic yogurt.

Scott: It wasn’t, I don’t even know what it was.

Peter: I will point out that you can.

Peter: You said if I could, you would.

Peter: You are the webmaster, the designer, et cetera, et cetera.

Peter: So you totally have the power to change this if you really want to.

Scott: I just got done doing a thumbs project.

Scott: I don’t want to do another one yet.

Scott: You’re right, I could.

Scott: Don’t tempt me.

Scott: Newport Days.

Scott: Actually, you know what?

Scott: Newport, Rogue Newport Days is another one that I’m going to change to side thumb.

Scott: It’s not terrible, but I never ever looked for it again.

Scott: And by the way, I’ve never seen it again.

Scott: So that’s good.

Scott: Okay.

Scott: Rogue Newport Days, that will be a side thumb.

Scott: So that’s good.

Scott: Maybe it’s good that I revisited these.

Scott: Piston Pale Ale, what was that?

Scott: Oh, Laurelwood Brewing Company.

Scott: No, God, no.

Scott: I hate that company with a passion already, just from that one beer.

Scott: Red.

Peter: Oh, that’s awesome.

Peter: Oh no, God, no.

Scott: Delirium Red.

Scott: No, I’m never changing that one.

Scott: That one was like drinking alcoholic cough syrup.

Scott: Blackbird Stout.

Peter: I don’t know.

Scott: I might actually, even though I’ve given this a thumbs down, I may have to buy another beerly Blackbird Stout to see if it’s worthy of a side thumb instead of a down thumb.

Scott: I just don’t know.

Scott: Hologram.

Scott: Counter Culture Coffee Hologram.

Scott: I gave it a thumbs down.

Scott: I said, slightly bitter.

Scott: I’m going to give it a thumbs down.

Scott: It’s the first time I’ve given a thumbs down to a coffee on this podcast.

Scott: For that reason alone, I have to leave it thumbs down, even though it’s probably a side thumb, but that was the first milestone.

Scott: It was a milestone in our podcast, so I got to leave it.

Scott: OK, I’m done.

Scott: I’m done revisiting.

Scott: I’ll revisit my thumbs up ones to see if any should be sighted them a different day, because there’s 450,000 of those.

Peter: Wow, I didn’t realize we’d done that many episodes.

Scott: Well, we drank a lot of beverages on the five episodes that we’ve done.

Peter: Right.

Peter: Yeah, we drank like 457 beers per episode.

Peter: That math actually works out.

Peter: Okay.

Scott: Talk to me, Peter.

Scott: You have a lot of things on our list.

Scott: Well, you’ve got some G words, an F word, a W word.

Peter: Oh, Jesus.

Peter: So I have been continuing.

Peter: I’m two for two in my out of country trips for the past year.

Peter: Well, trips to Europe, I should say, because I think I went to Canada once last year, maybe.

Peter: I don’t remember.

Peter: Anyway, twice, I went to Germany and another country last year and, well, sorry, no, I did it once last year and once.

Peter: Well, no, that’s true.

Peter: I did twice.

Peter: I left.

Peter: I went both times last year, but I came back this year.

Peter: Anyway, twice, I’ve gone to Germany and then a side trip to another country.

Peter: And twice, I have lost a set of my full on most expensive Warby Parker prescription, progressive transition lenses, customized glasses.

Scott: Peter, that hurts.

Scott: That physically hurts.

Peter: We’re talking a thousand bucks.

Peter: Yeah, I feel the pain, believe me.

Peter: So I’m like, I don’t know.

Peter: Now, here’s the thing.

Peter: January kicked around.

Peter: I had already put in another order.

Peter: One of these guys, the Wilkies that I have, the same size frames with a different color, because these guys, as you know, these look good on me.

Peter: I like these, but I want to wear these out on the street.

Peter: And these are just, you know, like reader glasses.

Peter: So I got a pair of black ones coming and I’m going to swap out the lenses and these will be my daily, daily drive, you know, glasses.

Peter: So I ordered those up and then like three days later promptly lost a pair and it’s got to have been in Portugal.

Peter: I don’t know.

Peter: I honestly, I swear they were probably somewhere in the hotel room.

Peter: They must have been lying around there.

Peter: And I just didn’t look hard enough because I don’t remember wearing them leaving out.

Peter: I went out for a day thinking I was going to go for a walk in the morning and a run in the afternoon.

Peter: And when I run, I generally don’t bring my glasses, especially since it was a little rainy, so I didn’t want to be dealing with wet glasses and stuff.

Peter: So I’m fairly certain I left them at home.

Peter: But maybe I didn’t, maybe I did wear them, and I took them off when I was getting a cup of coffee in a coffee shop.

Peter: So I don’t know what happened.

Peter: It wasn’t part of a scam this time.

Peter: This was just me misplacing the damn things.

Peter: So I feel badly about that.

Scott: I feel badly about it too.

Scott: Can I ask you a question?

Scott: Do you have glasses cases?

Scott: Like when I used to have specific glasses for cycling, I would do a swap and one would come out of the case, one would go into the case and the case would always go back to the same exact place.

Scott: So there was always a pair of glasses in the exact same place and I would know where it was.

Peter: Right.

Peter: But as is the case with you and I, in almost every single instance you could conceive of, we have very different use cases and sometimes we have very different glasses cases.

Peter: For me, I am frequently not wearing glasses.

Peter: So for comfort, I will put my reading, my computer glasses on when I’m using the computer or I’m reading, but I don’t always.

Peter: Some days it feels better without them.

Peter: Often my vision, I’m usually running around 2040 or so, so I can often drive without glasses as well.

Scott: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Peter: So what it used to do was I had my, I had one pair in the car with my little visor clip.

Peter: So it’s always there.

Peter: So when I hop in the car, there’s a pair of glasses there.

Peter: Then there’s also a pair, I usually leave my computer glasses at the desk.

Peter: And then I have an old pair with the prescription is still pretty common, but they’re athletic, like titanium, with super resilient bendy frames.

Peter: I leave those in my car and I use those, but I leave them in the back with my running pouch.

Peter: So when I use them for like trail running, I’ll wear those then.

Peter: But generally for me, it’s either I’m wearing my glasses or I’m not wearing them and they’re in the case, or if I’m in the car, I’m not wearing them and they’re in the car.

Peter: When I traveled, I had both of my sets with me.

Peter: I have the standard Warby Parker frame case, Warby Parker case with them, because they give you bigger cases than normal, because Warby Parker glasses often tend to run a little bit better.

Peter: And I just noticed I was looking for my glasses and the empty case was right there.

Peter: So at some point, I took them out of the case, presumably to wear them, or I came back to the hotel room and threw them somewhere in a dark corner without watching where I was putting them, which doesn’t sound like me.

Peter: So I really don’t know what happened.

Peter: But it was kind of angry, anger generating.

Peter: Not really, I was just disappointed in myself, though.

Peter: That was definitely a disappointment.

Scott: I wasn’t even there and I’m disappointed in you.

Peter: I told my another close friend of mine, and he said, oh, what do I know?

Peter: You don’t have to pay that much.

Peter: There’s another site.

Peter: So apparently now Warby Parker has gotten big enough that they are expensive enough to warrant a cheaper alternative.

Peter: Now, to be clear, even like Warby Parker, full on decked out progressives, et cetera, right?

Peter: Five hundred bucks.

Peter: But if you go to like any of the Luxottica brands or something, they’re going to be like a thousand bucks for a comparable.

Peter: Right?

Peter: So, okay, Warby’s half that.

Peter: Friend of mine told me about furmoo.com.

Peter: It’s Firm O-O, or it’s fur, like the fur tree, moo, like a cow.

Peter: furmoo.com.

Peter: And I specked out a pair there, which look very much like the Warby Parker Bromleys, which were the ones that I lost last year in France.

Peter: And full on, I’m just going to sign in and log in to my account, and we’ll find out what did I price it out at.

Peter: But it came out to like just over $100 for pretty much the same thing.

Peter: So you know, progressives, transition lenses, etc., etc.

Peter: So yeah, with my prescription, multifocal lending, blue block, photochromatic gray transition lenses, with blue light blocking, which is something I did not have on the Warbys.

Peter: The lenses are $85.90, and the frames itself are $23.99, and they gave me a coupon for 50% off the frames.

Peter: So the total is $110.

Scott: So here’s one thing I will say.

Scott: The optometrists that I go to, the lenses that they sell me are very expensive, but the coatings are very good.

Scott: I am very picky about what’s in front of my eyes.

Scott: I would be very hesitant to go too cheap on lenses, especially with coatings.

Peter: I have not had a coating problem in over a decade.

Peter: Now, granted, I’ve been using Warby Parker since 2019, so, but I’ve never paid…

Scott: I don’t mean just problems, but like your glasses, like do you have the UV filter and all that on there?

Peter: Yeah.

Scott: Like what exact coatings do you have?

Peter: It does have the UV blocking.

Peter: That’s standard.

Peter: I added blue light to it as well.

Peter: So they’re blue light blocking photochromic lenses.

Peter: So they’re transition style.

Peter: They will change colors.

Scott: Yeah.

Peter: And they’re progressives.

Peter: I don’t remember.

Peter: They gave another option.

Peter: They’re like that you can add a water-resistant coating and an oil-resistant coating.

Peter: I don’t remember if I added that.

Peter: I should add the oil-resistant coating though, because I definitely…

Peter: I noticed like in the bridge of the nose where it hangs, like in the center of the lenses there, I always have oily build-up in the center, but not so much from like smudges and stuff like that.

Peter: So, yeah.

Peter: Anyway, that was it.

Peter: And I think it sounds like…

Peter: I mean, for a hundred bucks, I’m gonna try a pair for sure, right?

Scott: Yeah.

Scott: I didn’t see any frames there that I liked.

Scott: I looked.

Scott: I didn’t see any I liked.

Peter: The ones I picked looked very much like the Bromley.

Peter: Like, if I was looking at just the photo, I was like, yeah, I think that’s Bromley or something very close from Warby Parker.

Peter: And these were the advanced progressive multifocals, which is their most expensive progressive option for 49 bucks.

Scott: You know what I might do?

Scott: I might try the Weathers from Warby Parker.

Scott: They’re brown tortoiseshell on top with a blue fade on the bottom.

Scott: I like that.

Peter: That’s kind of what I have.

Peter: Blue fade on the bottom, but not brown tortoise shell.

Scott: Yeah, yeah.

Scott: We both have glasses of blue fade on the bottom, not the ones I’m wearing right now, but you and I both have them, but they don’t have the brown tortoise on top.

Scott: So there, yeah.

Scott: I like that.

Scott: I’m gonna try those.

Scott: Cool.

Scott: I’m gonna pay for Warby.

Scott: I’m not going with you to…

Peter: You’re paying four times more than what I’m paying for these.

Peter: We’ll see if they’re four times better.

Scott: I know that Warby is decent quality.

Peter: Yeah.

Peter: So yeah, that’s my glasses.

Peter: You know this, Scott, because you can see me and I’d already told you, but I’m in a sling right now because I had rotator cuff surgery again yesterday.

Scott: Again yesterday.

Peter: Here’s the thing, though.

Peter: I definitely…

Peter: I had a nerve block yesterday, and that was the first time that I recall having a nerve block.

Peter: And I remember the last time I had the same rotator cuff repair in, what, May.

Peter: I remember them asking me, have you ever had a nerve block?

Peter: And I was like, I don’t think so.

Peter: And they’re like, yeah, you probably did.

Peter: I’m like, okay, well, I don’t remember it.

Peter: And I don’t remember coming out being, like, completely numb in the affected area.

Peter: But this time, I definitely did have it.

Peter: I do remember the nerve block, and I remember having the conversation.

Peter: So I remember, like, going into it.

Peter: I remember having talks with the nurses beforehand and with the anesthesiologist.

Peter: I remember waking up afterwards and having the conversation and having my right arm being completely numb, which lasted well into the night, last night.

Peter: So, yeah, I now have had a nerve block.

Peter: And it was very interesting, you know, having this, I don’t know how much my arm weighs.

Peter: What do you think, 10, 20 pounds?

Peter: But having this dangling, you know, like, I would turn and this, you know, my arm would, like, flop against my body in the sling.

Peter: I was like, I don’t remember this before.

Peter: This is interesting.

Peter: So, so I have had a nerve block now.

Peter: And great.

Peter: Contrary to my doctor’s orders, I did not take any of the, nor did I even have the prescription for opioids filled.

Peter: I think that that’s evil.

Peter: And for me, they don’t do anything.

Peter: They just make me nauseous and stupid.

Peter: So I just take Tylenol.

Peter: So I’ve taken my first dose of Tylenol today, percocet.

Scott: Wait, you think what’s evil?

Scott: You think not getting the opioids filled is evil?

Peter: No, taking opioids, I think they’re, I think it’s, I think the whole epidemic, this crisis that we have in this country is freaking joke.

Peter: It’s inexcusable.

Peter: And the way that they push pills on people, like, well, you have to take something.

Peter: I’m like, yeah, but I really don’t.

Scott: Yeah, it is evil.

Scott: However, it’s like anything else.

Scott: Those things are actually helpful and good if they’re used responsibly.

Scott: It’s just that people want to make money.

Peter: Not for me.

Scott: Why?

Peter: Not for me.

Peter: For me, they do not help with the pain.

Peter: One iota.

Peter: They do not change the pain.

Peter: They make me nauseous, so they make me sick, which is not a good thing.

Peter: That’s one in the thumbs down column.

Peter: And they also make me stupid.

Peter: They make me do, like, you know.

Scott: Oh, that’s a thumbs up.

Scott: I want to see that.

Peter: Yeah, I’m sure you do.

Peter: But no.

Peter: So there you go.

Scott: All right.

Scott: Well, in addition to your blocker, you also had the best beer of all, Propofol.

Peter: Milk of amnesia, as you say.

Scott: Yeah.

Peter: Yes.

Peter: So, but no, it didn’t work.

Peter: It didn’t.

Peter: I was not amnesiatic.

Peter: I remember everything going in and out this time.

Peter: So it was very different because I remember, like, you know, after my knee surgery, I vaguely remember waking up in the emergency room or the recovery room.

Peter: That would be bad if I woke up in the ER.

Peter: I remember waking up in the recovery room and I vaguely remember being wheeled out to the car, vaguely.

Peter: I don’t remember much of that after the rotator repair that I had later last year, though.

Scott: Oh, see, that’s different.

Scott: When I had…

Scott: Both times I’ve had probe fall, I remember everything absolutely.

Scott: It’s just that I was loving life.

Scott: I was enjoying every frickin second.

Peter: No, totally.

Peter: Once again, you and I, dramatically different use cases.

Peter: I didn’t have that experience.

Peter: People are different, dude.

Peter: There’s diversity.

Scott: No, I don’t believe that you and I are actually different people.

Scott: That just doesn’t make sense, Peter.

Peter: We are the same?

Peter: Exactly the same?

Peter: Yeah.

Peter: Yeah, so I was in Germany, and I established my German bank account over there now.

Peter: So now I can move money internationally.

Peter: Woo, how cool is that?

Scott: Yeah, and I don’t know.

Scott: You’re prepared to say or not, but what you’re also saying is that you are not just a German citizen.

Scott: You are also a German resident.

Peter: I am, although for functional purposes and taxes, et cetera, et cetera, at the moment, nothing changes.

Peter: Now were I to actually relocate there and start working there, I’d have to pay in to the German tax base system and also…

Peter: But they do have the…

Peter: They actually have a way, if you’re employed by an American company because of the dual citizenship, I don’t have to pay taxes in Germany as long as I document and fill out the right forms showing that I’ve paid my taxes to the United States.

Peter: So as long as my employer would allow it, or if I’m self-employed or whatever, I can be over in Germany and nothing changes as far as taxes go, except with the additional filing requirement.

Scott: But the things that it gives you are you can come and go without having to secure a visa for some…

Peter: Well, that I already have.

Peter: That I already have without residency.

Peter: That I have by virtue of just having the German passport.

Scott: Oh, okay.

Peter: What I can do now is I can go over there and rent a place or buy a place.

Scott: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Peter: Or I could buy a car or something like that.

Peter: These are things you can’t…

Peter: And I can, again, I can open a bank account, which I did.

Peter: So this is all part of my, the poo emoji hits the fan plan here in the United States.

Peter: And I’m like, I’ve had a good…

Peter: It’s been a good run, but it’s time for something different.

Scott: Thanks, United States.

Scott: Adios.

Peter: Of course, with the AFD gaining popularity over there.

Peter: Right now, here in America, if you’re talking to someone, there’s a 50-50…

Peter: Well, I mean, friends excluded, you know, recency bias aside, et cetera, et cetera.

Peter: But if you’re talking to someone, there’s a 50-50 chance that they voted red, right, in this country.

Peter: Over there, it’s one in five.

Peter: So Germany is still a little bit better on the right track, although Austria just went far right.

Peter: So, yay.

Peter: We need to stop talking about this.

Peter: I’m already starting to bite my nails.

Peter: Let’s go on something else.

Scott: Yeah, okay.

Peter: I don’t know.

Peter: But I’m seriously considering, you know, like just relocating there a few months out of the year.

Peter: I was in Berlin.

Scott: I was going to say, it doesn’t have to be…

Peter: Yeah, it doesn’t have to be…

Scott: It doesn’t have to be, you’ll never come back.

Peter: Exactly.

Peter: But I was looking around.

Peter: I really like Berlin.

Peter: And so, you know, I’m looking…

Peter: And I told you, I’ll share…

Peter: There’s a cost of living website where they just, you know, take user submissions and they aggregate stuff.

Peter: Cost of living there, for most things, is the same or cheaper than it is here in Massachusetts where I live.

Peter: And if I was to move like right into Boston proper, it would probably be dramatically cheaper.

Peter: So, that’s got it.

Peter: I don’t think I want to go into my issue with American Express other than to say we had a suspected fraudulent event with my American Express checking account.

Peter: American Express very helpfully, without consulting me at all, notified me that they were closing my bank account.

Peter: This, at the end of the month, so I had a bunch of money coming into the bank account, and also a bunch of money scheduled to go out of the bank account.

Peter: All of that was on hold.

Peter: This happened on a Friday evening that they made this decision.

Scott: At the end of the month, yep.

Peter: Yep, at the end of the month.

Peter: And subsequently, when I finally did get to talk to somebody about it, after I had already changed everything and pointed my credit cards and all my pay coming in to go to my new bank account, subsequently, I was actually able to speak to someone with half a brain at American Express.

Peter: And she said, No, we didn’t close your account.

Peter: Why would you say that?

Peter: It’s like because I have an email here saying after further review, we have decided to close your account from American Express.

Peter: And she assured me that, you know, that was wrong.

Peter: I said, look, if you wanted to keep my business, you would like share with me the, you know, the fact that this party has been disciplined in some way.

Peter: And I would get a written apology because I spent a solid eight hours and, you know, like a lot of time over the weekend stressing over this, changing all my bank accounts like connections.

Peter: So real estate payments, insurance payments, paychecks coming in, condo dues, credit card payments, everything like all of my linked accounts.

Peter: I actually made a document in free form so I could track everything and make sure that I was getting all of those things.

Peter: And yeah, I went through a lot of work to do all this crap only to find that, oh no, oh yeah, right, right.

Peter: And also I had to borrow against my line of credit to make sure I had enough money to pay my credit cards, because I was told that the bank account, which had all my money, was being closed, and that they were going to very helpfully mail me a check, which could take two to three weeks.

Peter: So, yeah, American Express, you’re a bunch of clowns, and I am looking forward to not working with you in the future.

Scott: Thank you.

Scott: But first of all, that’s just enraging.

Scott: The whole thing, just anyway.

Peter: But especially at the end, to find out that all of this was for naught, I didn’t need to do any of this, because they didn’t actually close the damn account.

Scott: Right.

Peter: You know, that’s what really pissed me off, drove the final mail home.

Scott: Yeah, the fact that they told you, why would you think we did?

Scott: I don’t know, because you told me.

Peter: Because you e-mailed me saying you did, you…

Scott: Besides, if they didn’t close the account, why were they going to send you a check?

Scott: That’s incredible.

Peter: Well, apparently none of that actually happened, right?

Peter: And the thing is, I was talking with them, and I said, well, is there someone I can talk to?

Peter: This is like the second or third person I called.

Peter: Also, they told me to call and said, you need to speak to this department.

Peter: And they told me to call at this time.

Peter: I called only to find out that they didn’t open at that time.

Peter: They opened two hours later than the time I was called to.

Peter: And I was told like, well, the decision has been made, so there’s nothing we can do.

Peter: This call is really just for goodwill.

Peter: And I said, I’m sorry.

Peter: I said, I know that you didn’t make this decision.

Peter: I know it’s not your fault.

Peter: But there is no goodwill between me and American Express right now.

Scott: I just don’t feel like this is actually engendering the goodwill that you thought it might.

Peter: Yeah.

Peter: Yeah.

Peter: So that was my day.

Peter: And I was making sure, you know, I was as polite as I could be to everybody.

Peter: I told them, look, you’re doing your job.

Peter: I know you’re not the one who made this decision.

Peter: But you work with a bunch of clowns, and I don’t want a bunch of clowns handling my money anymore.

Scott: So while we were talking, while you were talking, I said, hey, I was looking at Warkey, Warkey, Warkey.

Scott: I was looking at Warkey Barber.

Peter: Warkey.

Scott: Warkey Barber Frames.

Peter: Warkey Parker.

Scott: And I decided I wanted to, I looked at the Burke Tennessee Whiskey Frames.

Scott: And I said, I want to try those on at home.

Peter: Oh, sounds like, sounds tasty.

Scott: So I clicked the Try On At Home button.

Scott: I logged into my account and it said, okay, and it had that one thing in my cart.

Scott: Okay.

Scott: My order, luckily, this is all free, by the way, this free shipping, free everything for me to try on at home.

Scott: My order is not just the Burke Tennessee Whiskey, it’s four other frames that I didn’t ask for.

Scott: I never even looked at today, by the way, none of these, and I don’t like.

Scott: So they’re shipping me five frames, only one of which I ever wanted to try on and ever would want to try on, and I don’t know why.

Scott: But luckily, they’re not charging.

Peter: What a bargain.

Scott: What a bargain.

Scott: My zero dollars is going further than ever before, Peter.

Peter: So they’re, obviously, their AI has decided that you would look good in a bunch of these different frames, and so they gave you extra, you know, extra frames to try on at home.

Scott: They also told me that, but the thing is, these frames are nothing like the ones that I chose to try on.

Scott: They’re all totally different.

Peter: Well, they’re telling you you need to diversify a little bit.

Scott: No, I think what they’re telling me is that my bank account’s closed, and they’re mailing me a check.

Peter: Where is the nearest Warby Parker nearest to you?

Scott: About five miles from here.

Peter: Okay, because I have one about three miles from my place, and it’s very convenient.

Peter: So I can just go there when I want to change.

Scott: Yeah, I could go over there, and in fact, in fact, you know what, the truth of the matter is, I should just do that because I’m actually driving my daughter over there today to that very mall.

Peter: There you go.

Peter: That’s better.

Peter: Then you can try on five pairs that you actually do think you like.

Scott: No, I’m going to try on one pair that I do like and four that I can’t stand and would never try.

Peter: And four that I don’t.

Peter: What if you were desperate?

Scott: No, I’m not even giving those aside them.

Scott: No, never.

Peter: Okay.

Peter: All right, I think we’ve covered everything that we needed to cover off on this episode, other than Baldur’s Gate 3.

Peter: So you have been, you are welcome.

Peter: I have sucked you down into my own private little hell.

Scott: Yeah, and I gotta say, you can tell me, but when I described it on the podcast, before you said, download it today, I’ll play today, what I said was, I’m going to have you teach me how to play it, you’re gonna hate every second of it, but I’m going to enjoy it.

Scott: That probably was the case.

Peter: I wouldn’t say I hated every second of it.

Scott: Was there at least a second that you enjoyed or didn’t hate, you forgot to hate?

Peter: Yeah, oh no, absolutely.

Peter: No, I would only go so far as to say I hated most of the seconds, but certainly not all of them.

Scott: Good, good, good.

Scott: The other thing is, Ronnie now is gonna get into, I think he started playing Baldur’s Gate because of listening to the podcast.

Scott: At first, he thought it was like a first person shooter or something, and I was like, no, I would never, I would rather have my bank account closed at the end of the month and…

Peter: He’s thinking of Destiny.

Peter: He’s thinking of John Syracuse and his Destiny.

Scott: Right.

Scott: Wait, Density is not a first person shooter, is it?

Peter: Destiny.

Scott: Density.

Peter: You are my Density.

Peter: Isn’t it?

Peter: I thought it is.

Scott: Anyway, he’s playing it.

Scott: I will say this about Baldur’s Gate.

Scott: I’ve only played it once without playing multiplayer with you, and it’s stressful for me because I don’t know what I’m doing.

Scott: And I got stressed out.

Scott: So these people with goat horns and red faces or faces of different colors helped me beat some orcs.

Peter: Tieflings.

Scott: Outside their stronghold.

Scott: And then they let me in.

Scott: And I was so stressed after that I had to close the game.

Scott: And I haven’t had time to play it since.

Scott: But it’s, it’s fun.

Scott: I’m not to the point where it’s so, it’s an ordeal for me.

Scott: I have to be emotionally ready to go in there.

Peter: I mean, it’s an investment of time.

Peter: And there is a learning curve.

Peter: But once you get it, it’s, it’s pretty cool.

Peter: That’s pretty cool.

Peter: It’s a very well orchestrated game.

Scott: It is, yeah.

Peter: I have found, you know, very few bugs up until recently.

Peter: And so I was playing with, you know, another mutual acquaintance a couple of days ago.

Peter: And it was pretty funny because we were at this part of the story arc about halfway through.

Peter: We’re supposed to go and find this epic weapon and take down, you know, a major bigwig of the bad guys.

Peter: So we go to start this portion of the quest and we arrive at the tower.

Peter: And now the way it normally works is you arrive at these bad guys’ stronghold, you pose as them, they give you a bunch of tasks and side quests, you go do them and then you come back and kick their asses.

Peter: We show up at the tower for the first time and it had cut out all of that and they’re like, okay, here we are ready to storm the castle and kick their asses.

Peter: I was like, we’re missing something.

Peter: I was like, did we do this part already?

Peter: No, no, I double checked.

Peter: So major league bug, but I’m like, well, hell roll with it.

Peter: They just saved us a bunch of side quests.

Peter: Let’s just go do it.

Peter: We go in with a bunch of our allies, a veritable small army on our side, go in and we win and then as soon as the fight’s over, they all turned on us and attacked us.

Peter: I was like, okay, this is not supposed to be happening.

Scott: Are you sure about that though?

Scott: Maybe it’s part of the fun, Peter.

Scott: It sounded fun for me.

Scott: I wasn’t there, but.

Peter: I mean, it was fun.

Peter: I will say that, but we also missed a big part of it.

Peter: And all of a sudden, one of our groups that’s supposed to be our staunchest allies became our enemies.

Peter: So that was not what we were looking for.

Scott: Okay.

Peter: So yeah, there you go.

Scott: Anyway, Baldur’s Gate 3, it’s fun, it is well done.

Scott: I will say the fact that it’s a turn-based game.

Peter: That helps.

Scott: The fact that it’s, yeah, and the fact that it’s rooted in D&D, which also has tons of information out there about.

Scott: But anyway, it’s a game that you can learn and play.

Scott: I like the fact that it gives you time to think when you’re trying to learn how to play the game, even if you don’t have Peter there to help you.

Scott: And most of you won’t have Peter there to help you, I’m sorry to say.

Scott: Unless there’s an announcement you’d like to make, Peter.

Scott: Are you opening Baldur’s Gate 3 consulting services?

Peter: Ah, you know, I’ve got a lot of my plate right now, but I could do that.

Peter: Sure.

Peter: Yeah.

Peter: Sure.

Peter: Why not?

Scott: The last two weeks, all you’ve been doing besides traipsing around Portugal drinking beer and drinking coffee is playing Baldur’s Gate 3.

Peter: I’m on vacation and on medical leave.

Scott: Sure.

Scott: You’re on Baldur’s Gate 3 leave.

Peter: Oh, man.

Peter: I tell you.

Scott: Okay.

Scott: Peter, what if you got up your big red button today?

Peter: I…

Peter: nothing.

Peter: I’m about to just push that big red button so I can go back and start playing Baldur’s Gate.

Scott: See?

Scott: Are you going to tell people how they can find us if they’ve already found us?

Peter: If you’ve already found us, you can find us on friendswithbrews.com.

Peter: That’s B-R-E-W-S.

Peter: You can also find us on Blue Sky.

Peter: You can still find me on Mastodon, but right now, because it’s been easier for me to cross post from Mastodon to Blue Sky, mostly like 90 percent of the reason that I’m keeping Mastodon.

Peter: Occasionally, I will still see an interesting post over there, but I got to say, yeah, I’m going with the flow here, like all the good stuff’s on Blue Sky these days.

Scott: I went through and looked at the people that you follow, the people that you’re trying to impress, and I followed a bunch of them.

Scott: Most of them are security-related and they’re good fellows.

Peter: Yeah.

Scott: You can also, if people, if you’re listening to this right now, you can go back in time because it will be in the future.

Scott: By the time you hear this, my future, you can go to warbyparker.com.

Scott: Oh, actually, you can go to the Warby Parker physical store in Tigard, and I will be there, and you can say hi to me.

Scott: But you won’t be there in time, so forget it.

Scott: But anyway, that’s where I’m going to be.

Scott: You can find me there right now if you hurry.

Peter: Well, on that note, I think we should push the big red button so I can press the Baldur’s Gate button.

Scott: Tell your friends.

Scott: Do you hear the crickets?

Scott: Oh.