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An atmospheric river hits the Pacific Northwest, stranding Chris on an island. As floodwaters rise fast, he shares what it’s like when your only road out disappears. Plus, a van update with Brent.

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Show Notes:

• Third day of atmospheric river ahead for Wednesday | WEDNESDAY MORNING UPDATE - YouTube
• Skagit River to exceed 2021 flood, upriver residents urged to prepare for evacuation - YouTube
• Skagit County orders Level 3 evacuations as Skagit River rises rapidly | FOX 13 Seattle - YouTube
• BREAKING: City of Burlington under evacuation orders - YouTube
• Coast Guard rescues people stranded by Washington flooding - YouTube
• Coast Guard rescues people stranded by Washington flooding - YouTube
• Skagit County under NWS Flood Watch, Level 2 (Get Set) evacuation warning issued - YouTube
• Tsunami stone - Wikipedia
• Tsunami Stones: Ancient Japanese Markers Warn Builders of High Water - 99% Invisible
• W1209 Temperature Control Switch (Thermostat Sensor Module)
• Amazon.com: HiLetgo 2pcs W1209 12V DC Digital Temperature Controller
• Types of relays to control low temperature charging for your LiFePo4 batteries - YouTube
• Cold Temperature LiFePO4 Heater on a Budget! Beginner Friendly - YouTube
• Raccoon found passed out in bathroom of Virginia ABC Store after breaking in, ransacking shelves - YouTube
• In-N-Out nixes '67' from ticket system due to '6-7' trend

Music:

• Run To Safer Ground By: Heidi J Masters

[00:00:04] Unknown:

This is The Lodge episode 46 for 12/16/2025.   Streaming from the beautiful Pacific Northwest   and the mighty American West Coast, we greet you all a good morning, good evening, or whenever your timeline may fall. Time appropriate greetings indeed to one and all. This is the launch. My name is Chris. And I'm Angela. That's Brent over there. Hey, Brentley. Oh, hey.   Hello. Hi. I stand by you two. There's a few things I wanna let everybody know before we get started. You can call the show after the fact, (774)   462-5667.  

Usually live, but this week, we got something special. But give us a call. We want your holiday voice mail. (774)   462-5667.   This show's live on Tuesdays, except for during the holiday week, and then comes out Wednesday morning for download.   I think you should join us live one of these weeks. It's a lot of fun. We also got a mumble room going.   We got a chat room going.   You can help us with the titles.   Give it that live vibe. We always really appreciate that. And then links to what we talked about today will be posted over at   weeklylaunch.rocks.  

That's the website. That's where you wanna go, previous episodes,   and all of that.   Well, Andrews, the people   have asked. It's really an episode where we're delivering what the people have asked for this week. They wanna know what's going on with your cat situation because a few weeks ago, you talked about getting a new baby kitty on the show. A few weeks ago. Yeah.   And then and then, of course, that went sort of sideways because your existing cat turned out to be a psychopath killer. One of them. Yep. Mhmm. Numbed your thumb up.  

[00:01:52] Unknown:

Yeah. Well, it's nerve nerve damage. Yeah. Alright. So here's the timeline. Just a quick recap.   August 1, Diya text me, do you want a kitten?   And I get in the car, and I drive, and I pick up a kitten.   Abby becomes the mom,   to this kitten,   and we bring it back. And I figured that having this kitten with no territorial and, like, just knew that that Gypsy would be, like, welcoming and be fine. Sure. What's the big deal? Yeah. No. No. She is territorial, and she doesn't wanna share. And, anyway, so she went to attack.   I she bit me Oh. Because I picked her up while she was attacking. It was my bad. Got you right in the nerve. Yep. Right in the thumb. Nerve damage. And the thing is is for the most part, it the the numbing went away. But now if I hold something in a certain way,   something pops over my knuckle,   and it hurts. And then I also have temperature sensitivity, like, in a weird way. Like, my thumb will be cold   when the rest of my hand is not. It it's super weird. But, anyway,   I have been trying to introduce the cats. Yeah. Some of the feedback from the show was,   I think it was in chat,   said,   that Gypsy is unlikely to change her stance. Uh-oh. You know? And not good. You know? And this is a cat that literally   went and caught a Blue Stellar j and killed it in front of the kitten. Like Send a message.  

Yeah. So the cat has been,   toes. This is the kitten. Has been staying in Abby's room   since August. And so what happens every day, I let Gypsy outside and I let Toes out while Toes was peeing on Abby's bed every day. So I was having to wash the blankets every day, and I thought maybe I need to switch the litter. I did switch the litter. He stopped peeing on her bed   ish.   He's done it, like, three more times because he doesn't wanna be locked in that room.   He doesn't wanna be alone. He is a person cat just like, just like Brent's cat or people cats. Mhmm. So,   anyway,   Abby did let him out the other night,   and Gypsy was in the house.  

And she cornered him,   and there was no attack. Oh. And I was able to distract her with a cat gurt is what I call them. It's like a go gurt, but for cats,   tuna flavored. Yeah. Yeah. And shared it between the two of them. They were a foot apart. Oh, I see. I've done this, like, three or four times already. Solid progress. Yeah. And the most they've been out, like, without me in between them is about twenty minutes.   I have a spray bottle   that, surprisingly, I have to use on toes.   Like, not Gypsy. Gypsy is not the one attacking. It's toes because Gypsy is such a many times after being attacked. It's like, alright. Yeah. Well, she attacks him through the sliding glass door. Right? So he sees her as a threat. Well, anyway,   that's that's where we're at. Wow. Abby has decided that if   if we cannot get this litter box out of her room   by February,   that we will try to find another home for Toast. That's a timeline that seems reasonable. It does. And the thing is is Toast is just such a good cat. Yeah. And I am doing everything I can. And every time I'm like, I'm just gonna let them duke it out and, you know, if   I don't know. The part of the problem is, one, I just I chicken out. Yeah. It's awful to watch. I don't want blood everywhere. No.  

I I I can't have two injured cats. I have one cat carrier. You know? I can't do it on the weekend because then it's emergency vet fees. You know, like, there's there's so many calculations.  

[00:05:15] Unknown:

Scheduling cat fight's tough. Right.  

[00:05:17] Unknown:

Yeah. That'd be   nice. So I'm thinking sometime,   in the next two weeks. I'm just I'm going to I I am going to do it during a weekday, not a holiday. Yeah. You know? And and just see,   how it's tuna the tuna pop thing. That'll help. Right? Yeah. I I Those shared moments? As soon as toes leaves her sight, she sees him as a threat.   So and starts, you know, starts, you know, hunting him. So that's hard not cat life. It is. So that's that is where we're at with the cats. Alright. Does anybody else have any  

[00:05:52] Unknown:

cat tips? Any holiday miracle cat tips? Because it's a damn cute cat. So boost in. Let us know how you   would solve this cat feud. And then I have another one for you. You can settle a debate going on between Hadiyah, the wife, and I.   So do you think Die Hard is a Christmas movie? See, I Oh my gosh. I convinced the wife that Die Hard was a Christmas movie. But then,   a new poll came out by the British Board of Film Classification.   This and 44%   of those, the majority of that responded,   said that it it is not a Christmas movie. And I thought, okay, who cares? But this got her going down a rabbit hole where she found an interview   with Bruce Willis Oh. Who says it's not a Christmas movie. He says it's a damn Bruce Willis movie. Was that was that before or after his dementia?  

Before, I think. Well, who knows? Maybe 2018 was starting to kick in. So I settle it audience. Whichever way you go, it'll settle the debate between Hadiyah and I. Is   Die Hard a Christmas movie? It's a Bruce Willis movie. That's funny. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's actually that's actually a pretty good one.   But no. Alright. So I wanna get into a wild thing that happened to me since our last episode.   In the bootleg,   we said, hey. This big storm's a coming.   I had no idea that it was a coming for me and particularly hit my area very, very hard, and I ended up stranded. So we're gonna get to that now, and that's quite the tale. From raining tech to giants tall,   the Pacific Northwest has it all,   but mostly rain.  



[00:07:28] Unknown:

That's the call.  

[00:07:33] Unknown:

So a local weather expert, I believe he works for Alaska Airlines and and manages, like, you know, the weather safety for them. He he posted this. You are witnessing history, folks. This will go down as one of the craziest weather months you're ever going to see in the region with lots more to come. Exceptional landslide and flood risk for most areas. Big mountain snows, impossible travel across passes. We also have two different highways that have been shut down, our two different eastbound highways. And he he ends with don't travel.   And on top of all of this epic flooding we're about to get into, yesterday, we had an earthquake in our region too. Two of them, actually. So, boy, did we really, really get hit. And things kicked off last Wednesday after just a couple of days of nonstop rain.  



[00:08:14] Unknown:

We sort of hit the limit on the third day. First alert weather coverage as we get ready for more significant rain. An atmospheric river is pummeling the Northwest right now. Yeah. Over the next twenty four hours, we could see some record breaking river levels. Team coverage ahead this morning around the sound with Savannah Welch in Auburn. Drew Andre is in Snoqualmie, and Brady Wakayama is in Snohomish.   Savannah, we're gonna start with you. What conditions are you seeing there? It looks like there are some flooding happening.  

[00:08:42] Unknown:

That's right, Jake and Mimi. There is significant flooding happening. We're on Black Diamond Road here in Auburn. And looking at this, I mean, there's flood water on the low flood of the flood of the storm. Really really knew where the most of the damage is gonna be. So, like, they always do when these things happen. They spread out across the Pacific Northwest   and, try to capture the moments.   But it was pretty quick that Skagit County became one of the epicenters of this event. Well, my home base, where the family farm is, is in Skagit County. And   the Skagit River,   aptly named, runs twists through much of the county. So we knew we could have some issues, and our farm has a creek   that comes directly off the Skagit River. In a normal winter times, it just fills a small lake,   But that wasn't what happened this time. It usually ends there. This time, it definitely did not end there, and we started to realize pretty quickly into Wednesday that Skagit County was where the action was.  



[00:09:41] Unknown:

We continue to follow developing news widespread flooding across across Western Washington. That includes Skagit County where the Skagit River is expected to crest at historic levels later this week. Colonel Tyler Cunningham continues our team coverage in Burlington at a sandbag filling station. Tyler?  

[00:09:58] Unknown:

Yep. Preston, here along South Anacorta Street. This has been a busy operation to say the least. This warehouse behind me just bustling. An organizer just told me they have given out 25,000   sandbags   today alone. Everyone here then handing these over to the cars that have been waiting down the road for the hour that we have been here could potentially be even longer. Everyone just simply trying to prepare as much as they can for this record setting   swell of water from the Skagit River.   Skagit County communities like Lyman, Concrete, and Hamilton, all given evacuation   orders as a result of rising water levels Wednesday. This is probably the worst it's ever been, but, I mean,   it could be worse. Waiting through his parents' backyard, Garrett Kennedy says this kind of flooding was   expected, but he's thankful he doesn't live near the riverbank. You know, when it when it floods,  

[00:10:57] Unknown:

what we as we say up the river, it's not too unexpected because there's a lot of towns that are really just right along the river.   And that didn't seem like it was a big problem. It was something we were being aware of because of, you know, it's in our area, but it's far away from us.   But at this point, there was probably a couple 100 of acres of the farm that were underwater. And so some of the outer fields   had these bales of hay that were wrapped in this white plastic. You've probably seen these. Mhmm.   Marshmallows. Yeah. They were all floating out in the water like marshmallows because they all got got Really? They really yeah. As the water came in, they got crazy. They got lifted.  



[00:11:33] Unknown:

Well, whole trees are floating down these rivers. Like, it's so weird or, like, houses. Any house built in the last twenty years is not gonna be floating down. It's all older structures Yeah. There's Yeah. That are more And the we had trees underwater, but,  

[00:11:47] Unknown:

we weren't too worried   until   the evacuation order came out for the town that Just one?   The first one. The first evacuation for the town that Hadea works in because they were worried the levees were about to break. Mhmm. She's, you know, at her clinic doing her thing, not watching the news. I'm at home paying attention, and I'm like, holy crap. This is starting to get serious. Alright. Now to the biggest area of concern here for state officials and for everybody worried about their safety, and that's Skagit County, particularly Mount Vernon and Burlington. Let's go to Alejandra Guzman who was there with the very latest as this river is expected to crest tonight  

[00:12:21] Unknown:

at 10:00. Ali? David Hanna, let's just say that within the last twenty four hours, Skagit County officials have now shifted everyone who is living in the one hundred year planes under a level three go now order evacuation. The conditions are just changing so quickly, and I can share a little bit about how we've seen that happen. Our So my phone starts buzzing.  

[00:12:44] Unknown:

Mhmm.   And it's like if you're in the hundred year evacuation plane, you need to get out. How do you know where that is? How do you know where that is? Right? Yeah. All the county websites are slammed. You know what's funny? Is, so I have coworkers. I sent my Slack message to you know, there's this flooding going on. Yeah. But I marked myself as safe on Facebook, and it said, tell your friends to mark themselves as safe. And you're listed there. Right? And and it said, not in the designated zone.   Oh. Like, it Facebook doesn't detect that you are vacation. Yeah. Whatever whatever it's using. So   not that you update anybody on Facebook.  



[00:13:20] Unknown:

Yeah. But, I did go there once just to see what people were talking about,   because it was I mean, this part this is it was it got crazy because do you really trust this? And I'm getting the alert. I gotta figure out where this hundred year FEMA region is, and I need to know,  

[00:13:36] Unknown:

if the situation in Burlington is serious or if they're just being careful, and then they start talking about flash floods in Burlington. Jontay, and getting back to our breaking news up in Skagit County. The city of Burlington is now under evacuation. This happened about an hour ago. All residents are being asked to leave immediately   because of the gauges slew that is now flooding.   This is a look at the evaction area on this map again within the city of Burlington.   Crews have been going door to door asking people to leave this morning. Kick five's Drew Andre is there live. So, Drew, last we heard from you, you saw some people on the move.  

[00:14:13] Unknown:

Right, Christine. Yeah. There's a bunch of cars driving around as people are trying to get out of this area. I I mean, unsurprisingly, most people kind of thought maybe they were in the clear because as we've seen the Skagit River levels are dropping, but that is not That was the wild thing is Yeah. This started happening after the level started to drop in the river itself. Right. So my wife, I get a hold of her. She gets in the car. She starts driving home. Traffic is slammed because everybody's evacuating.  

[00:14:39] Unknown:

She's taking every back route she knows how. She cannot   get through there   any faster than possible. It probably took her she'd normally would take her thirteen minutes, probably took her forty five plus minutes to get home. And by the time she was getting home, the one road into the farm was starting to fill with water, but she was able to kinda drive along the side and get past it. So she gets home and, we chat for a bit and have a snack or dinner. And then we're like, well, let's go see how the road's doing. Forty five minutes later, we get down there, and the road was   impassable.  

It had already completely flooded in, and I captured this video from my car. Well, we officially attempted to see if we could pass, but,   there's a lot of crap floating in the water. So,   boy, those trucks are gonna that's gonna be a problem soon.   So I think we're getting out of here because it's filling up pretty fast, so we might be able to cross. We might drive over something.   What I was surprised by, first of all,   was all the debris in the water Debris. From the different yards and stuff. And the far one of these one of these is a farm yard that's not very clean, and so there's just some junk in the water. But the other thing that was crazy is as we're sitting there, you could watch the driveways and you could see the water  

[00:15:53] Unknown:

Inching up. Yes. That's scary.  

[00:15:55] Unknown:

Oh, it was crazy. So the other thing that struck me is, like, well, even if I could get through and not, you know, drive over something that gets stuck in my Oh. Car or my wheel well or something,   When I get back, I probably am not gonna be able to pass. You're not gonna get back. Totally crazy. I mean, it was just   absolutely bonkers how fast it was coming in. And that's when it really clicked. It's like we're really gonna be stuck here for a bit. This is actually gonna happen.   And,   sure enough,   I woke up early as soon as the sun came up, sent the drone out, and verified we were a full on island.   Not just, like, kind of. Like, we were completely 100% surrounded, and then where we're at on the farm   is up about a 100 feet. It's just this little bit of high ground that we have. And the rest of the farm had been completely consumed by water   entirely. I didn't have a boat, so I was really I was really really stuck. We were okay. We had supplies and whatnot. And thankfully, we were a lot better off than other people, so we just sort of sat sat it out. And about twenty four hours later, the road started to clear out. And then the weird thing is is at first, it started to go down a little bit. And we're like, hey. We think it's going down. And then almost as fast as it came in, maybe even faster, it cleared out. It was like somebody pulled a plug Yeah. And the thing just started draining.  



[00:17:11] Unknown:

So we were okay, but a lot of people are not. New drone video shows National Guard trucks plowing through the flooded streets.   This rescue captured on camera.   All of it unfolding in Burlington, Washington about an hour north of Seattle.   Rescue workers coming in on rafts to save this stranded motorist   in the city where the entire community was instructed to evacuate.   As much as 16 inches of rain hitting Western Washington since Monday with rivers at major flood stages. Floodwaters   carrying away this house after it was swept off its foundation.   A sheriff's deputy using a drone to drop a life jacket to this man stranded on top of his vehicle.  

What is it like to see  

[00:17:55] Unknown:

your house like this? It's devastating. Like, I I  

[00:17:59] Unknown:

Monica Mendez and her husband,   among those who decided to stay. They took these videos as their basement filled with water. We never thought this was gonna happen like this. The fast moving water pouring into her home. You had never seen anything like this. Nothing. I've been more here more than fifteen years, and   we have never had a flood. And take a look at the rushing water there behind me. People in this neighborhood say that is normally completely dry. The water here came in so fast in the middle of the night that some of them did not even have time to move their cars.  

[00:18:32] Unknown:

We're gonna be low on our rescue for  

[00:18:34] Unknown:

rent. 20 miles to the north of Burlington,   recently released video shows the coast guard hoisting two people to safety from atop their home, submerged in floodwaters.   Officials warning residents that the threat is not over.  

[00:18:48] Unknown:

Please, please, follow those orders.  

[00:19:15] Unknown:

Yeah. I gotta get a boat because it's not done. Yeah. That would have been so fun. Oh, it would've I would've gone and visited the neighbors. Mhmm. I did actually see one dude out there. At least a blow up dinghy or something. Right? Yeah. Something. Like, just in case.   But it's raining right now, and it's gonna continue raining for the next eight days. And we also have windstorms,   which the ground is super soft now Mhmm. From all this rain. Yeah. The rivers are at maximum capacity. So the Skagit River is already scheduled  

[00:19:41] Unknown:

to, get back to flood levels tonight. Yep. Here we go again. Yep. Yeah. Even when it wasn't raining, the Snohomish River in Snohomish,   was cresting higher. Like  

[00:19:53] Unknown:

and then, Snohomish has been hit with so many power outages too at the same time. So We lost power here at the studio last night Yeah. With the wind. Jeez. 35, 40 mile per hour winds yesterday.  

[00:20:04] Unknown:

Just it's just it's just crazy. It's been one heck of a This is why snow is better. This is my argument right here. Yeah. I'm trying to convince you the, you know, you should turn up the the winter,  

[00:20:14] Unknown:

over there, and you guys wouldn't have that much problems. Our weather chose violence this winter. I was hoping for a snowy winter. Instead, we got this. It's not even winter yet. I know.  

[00:20:23] Unknown:

Next week.  

[00:20:24] Unknown:

When you were talking about the hundred year flood range and how nobody really knew   where to go, I remember, I got two things. One, Chris, if you remember when you and I were taking the van up the Oregon Coast,   we saw a bunch of, like,   suggestions of different routes,   for tsunami purposes.   So that's kinda interesting. I mean, your area obviously hasn't seen this kind of thing very much, and it's not tsunami.   But there is this cool concept that I heard of in Japan called tsunami stones where they basically   wherever that hundred year level is, but for them, it's more like   well, some of these markers are, like, 600 years old. They put these giant, like, 10 foot tall   stone   markers to basically delineate Remind everyone. Yeah. It's like, if   tsunamis are coming, this is the point at which you should probably you know? So if you   are driving through your neighborhood regularly or to and from work and you see these things regularly, then it's it becomes,   you know, just knowledge through absorption. Like, you don't okay. You don't need it on the day you see it or the,   you know, hundreds of days that you drive by it. But when you need it, you know exactly where it is. Right? So I wonder if you're in that area, that'd be useful or at least on on the farm just like put some sticks in and  

[00:21:40] Unknown:

Yeah. I was all over the county website. I eventually did get it, and, of course, it was a PDF. Yeah. You know? And then you zoom in and you look on your area, and it it showed our exact farm encircled in water. Yep. And this was a little bit before. I think I sent you a picture of it. Right? This is before it all happened. I'm like and I'm just thinking, like, what are the chances this happens? Right? Like, no. But there's, like, nobody can ask. So it would be good to have a little historical mark. I did capture a bunch of photos and drone footage  

[00:22:08] Unknown:

that to kind of Toto, Mexico in Snohomish has,   like, a height chart Yeah. Of flooding. Yeah. And we did not or I have not seen any pictures that has exceeded, like, the November,   2,019  

[00:22:21] Unknown:

flooding. Yeah. You know, people in these clips are like, I've never seen this. This never happened. Kinda does happen. Different areas flood, but Right. This was really bad. Well, that one gal had been living there for fifteen years and had never been flooded. So This is a bad one. For some people. But it's not a hundred year flood. It's like a ten year flood. But just, you know, her area got hit.   But that's our that's our,   I guess, battles with the climate. But Brent, he has his own. Cold night.  

[00:22:44] Unknown:

Old man.   You listen, said it in two cats warm plans fan update.   Twist Brent.  

[00:22:53] Unknown:

Well, Brentley, the people asked for it. So you're here this week to tell us how it's going with that van of yours, AKA the Bang Bus. I I think the last time we really talked about it much on any show was probably when we went to Texas and Wow. Yeah. Much has happened since then. Yeah. I still haven't been home,  

[00:23:13] Unknown:

which is a thing.   So I'm still How much were you parking now, Brent? Pretty much. And you Yeah. You promised me that would kick in, and I didn't believe you at first. But now, yep, that's 100% true. So where it was parked previously was near a cottage I was staying in for a couple months,   and,   the weather switched. And that cottage, you know, I had to get to it with either a canoe or a boat just across a little river.   Well, that river started freezing, and,   I was like, oh, that's not good.   So my cats and I decided to jump in the van because the van is always available,   and   live   in my parents' driveway   because that's who I'm here kinda spending time with. The classic moochdocking for the winter. Oh, yeah. Tried and true van life tradition. They even have an outdoor plug I can use for heat and stuff. You know? So I was like primo.  

Uh-huh. And the weather wasn't so bad that   it became immediately obvious that the van was a bad idea. You know, it was kinda like shoulder season ish. It's like, okay. We got three, four days where it's really cold and the river freezes, so I can't stay there. But I can just, you know, stay in the van for a couple days. And then for the next two weeks, it'll be nice and warm or whatever. So I was like, oh, yeah. I'll just live in the van for a bit. And I gotta say, after doing the whole Texas trip with my cats and, you know, traveling the continent, basically,   that was really nice to get it back in there. And they just adjusted perfectly fine, and so did I. And it was like, oh, this actually quite feels like home. This is nice.  

Unfortunately, that didn't last very long because the weather did change, and,   it, at one point, got so cold that   one heater couldn't really keep up to Yeah. Keep us warm. Like, the van is not,   let's say, not it's made in Canada, but it's not exactly made for Canadian winters. You know? So, and my parents van really is made for that kind. No. I mean purpose build it. Or just, you know, drive do the right thing and drive south and live with the winters somewhere that's reasonable.   That's not in flooded places  

[00:25:16] Unknown:

like your place. But Hey. We had high ground. Mhmm.  

[00:25:20] Unknown:

But I you know, the van is currently my main vehicle, so I'm still using this thing to to move around. Right? So we have found a different place to live,   but I'm using the van every day to just, like, drive. It's my commuter. Right?   And, it's actually surprisingly done great. We made the right decision,   when we had to replace the tires when we were rescuing this thing to put, like, winter specific,   winter rated,   tires that were capable of having the van's weight and all of this stuff   and didn't lose too much highway mileage. So it was, like, a I did a little bit of quite a bit of research to find these tires, and I'm really super happy with them both   in the summer for that long drive. Like, it wasn't too loud. But I have to say in the snow,   they've been amazing.  

And so that is   really rewarding because   it's only a two wheel drive vehicle,   which   I made a rule for myself with my last vehicle that I'd never do that again.   Not again. Oops. Oh, yeah. Just with all wheel drive technology these days. It's like   it's so much safer and better and just gets you out of all sorts of, you know, tricky spots. But the van is two wheel drive, and it's rear wheel drive,   which is arguably the worst,   kind of two wheel drive. So,   you know, my father and I are working on a little cottage,   and it's a pretty small road.  

And, you know, it doesn't really get plowed very much, and we've been getting lots of snow and kind of melty rain and stuff. So I just and and this is the same place we've been going   for the last couple months. So just, like, totally brainlessly, I just drove   on this snowy,   small road, which I've done a 100 times at this point. But at the end of that road, there's, like, a big downhill,   and that's where I used to park.   And, unfortunately,   I parked there. And then we did, like, a couple hours of work on this property that we're working on, and it just snowed and snowed the entire time we were there. But I didn't   very bad decision. I didn't really, you know, think that I might have to get up this hill at some point.  

Uh-uh. So it came about, you know, 05:00, and it was like, okay. Let's go home. And I I was like, oh, wait a sec. There's a lot more snow than I expected here. And, also, I'm parked at the bottom of this hill, and the van Uh-huh. Can get up this hill no problem in the summer. It's kind of like a gravel path.   And,   so gave it a try   knowing it would be a bit of a challenge, and I didn't push it too hard. But, I got, like, 50% up the hill before the back tire started slipping, which is the very first time   any of the wheels on the van slipped. So I was like, okay. This is actually quite serious because the van's pretty heavy from especially compared to, like, previous vehicles I've driven.  

So so even though I tried in normal condition, I couldn't get that thing to to slip in the snow. So I was pretty confident. But   having gone only 50% up the hill, it's like, oh, that's not good. And then   you can't turn that van around. It's, like, super long. Yeah. Right. So I just, like, gently backed it down this sort of icy snowy hill, and I slipped a little bit, but did pretty okay.   And then I was like, okay. I   we found some chains   that were in this van when we got it. I'm just I've never used chains before, but I'm gonna throw these on because, like, I only made a 50% up. If I'm gonna try again, what? Am I gonna get another 10% or something? Yeah. Yeah. So I go to get out of the van, which, unfortunately, my,   driver's door stopped working because, one got in there and ice formed, and I guess the latches stopped. So you can open it from the outside, but not from the inside.  

Oh, Brent. So my father watched me, like, slip down this hill a little bit. So he comes by, and I'm like, hey. Could you open the door for me?   So he opens the door, and he's like, what are you gonna do? I was like, I'm gonna put chains on. And he was like, it was the end of the day, and we're both tired. He's like, no. No. No. We don't we've never done that before. Like, usually, we have all four wheel drive vehicles or whatever. And, like,   he was like, just I I watched you just go faster.   And immediately, I was like,   the right decision is to do the chains. The   the wrong decision is to go faster. But, you know, he's my father.  

So I   put maybe   more credence into his advice than I probably should have. So, anyways, I backed up a little further, you know, prepped and everything and,   pushed the van a little, trying to get up this hill. And I   was doing really well, except I only got, like, 95%   the way up the hill until I started slipping. And Yeah. That is not enough.   That is not No. So I'm at the top of this hill now,   like, staring into the sky   and realizing   I can make it no further.   So sure enough, I'm, like, stopped. Thankfully, with the brakes on, I was just able to stop.   And then my father and I are looking at each other like, okay.  

Now what? Like,   what are we Can't go any further. You're stuck here. Yeah. So he's like, well, maybe I can, you know, get the obvious thing. Like, maybe I can get a a strap for his truck and, like, just hook it on the van or whatever and just pull you within the last 5% of this hill because you're so close.   Right.   No. We don't have any straps. We don't have any like, there's no rigging points on the van. There's nothing. So I was just like, well, we   and plus he has four wheel drive, and he was slipping at the top of the hill because it was that icy. Oh, boy. So I was like,   this is we should just leave the van here and come back some other day. Right?  

And, but I can't leave it at the crest of this hill. It's just like No. It's a so It's in the road now. You can't leave it there. And I knew this was a sketchy point. I've driven a lot of ATVs   previously, and, like, backing down a slippery slope is   sketchy. That's for sure. And so sure enough, you know, I tried to back very slowly down, but you gotta let go of the brakes.   And   that was just enough to gain you know, the van's heavy, so gain enough momentum   that Yep. You know, even if I let go of the brakes just very slightly to start rolling,   as soon as I applied the brakes anymore, I just started locking the the wheels and started sliding   down this hill. Which And the front end is that because  

[00:31:33] Unknown:

Oh, yeah. There's a lake right on the other side. There's a drop off too. So you have a hill with a drop off on one side into a lake. Mhmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's not a good, place to go with a vehicle.  

[00:31:44] Unknown:

While you're spinning. And that's where the van is right now, in the lake. In the lake swimming. No. It has a great view.  

[00:31:50] Unknown:

So the worst part is, like, the heavy part on the van at that point is the engine. So the engine wants to go down the hill first, but it's pointing to the sky. Right? So I'm I'm backing down this hill. All the tires are slipping at this point, and the front end just wants to come around   and point towards basically this river and this incline that if I go down, it's like the van might flip if I, you know, start going down this little spot. So it was,   let's say, quite sketchy.   Luckily, I have a little bit of experience with this kind of, like, crazy shenanigans,   and I had it in reverse. So I was able to   make some very quick decisions and just like, okay. I'm starting to go down this hill. The best thing to do is hit reverse so I don't fall down that, like, embankment and potentially flip or whatever.  

What that meant was   I basically slid halfway down this super slippery   little slope and ended up   hitting, like, a little object,   which is basically a four foot hole with, like, plumbing in it.   Oh. It's like a wooden box. So I I just like just to say nicked that with the back bumper, so no damage or anything on either the van or this thing. But   I was, like, tucked behind this thing and stuck now on, like, a grassy knoll with the back end of the van,   and the front end had turned 90 degrees. So I was, like, sideways on this slippery hill now. And that sketchy slope I was talking about was, like, about a foot in front of my front tires.   And we were tired. It was, like, 5PM. The sun's going down. It's snowing like crazy, and I was like, I'm just gonna leave this here. This is Mhmm. Not a good situation.  

Like, there's no way I could do an Austin Powers shimmy to even, like, try to get out of there. And then what? Like,   I point downhill and just keep slight like, so I just Right. Yeah. Find find your van in the lake. Yeah. You know what? I don't need the van that much. Like, we can come back some other day and sort this out.  

[00:33:52] Unknown:

I think in a way, you're kinda lucky you hit that box because, you know, it helped you stop. Yeah. I do think a lot of things went right in a very wrong situation.  

[00:34:00] Unknown:

You know, it could have been worse. So that's good. The real Yeah. The real moral here is   put the chains   on. Well, yeah. But if Yeah. If you get past that point, you know.  

[00:34:11] Unknown:

So you regroup. You make a plan. Right? Like Mhmm. Get and you don't have all the tools you need, I would imagine. Didn't sound like you had everything you should have.  

[00:34:20] Unknown:

Which   I I guess I should have thought of this ahead of time. Like, this was inevitable. Right? Like, the van is a two wheel drive. It's crazy winter up here where I am. It's just inevitable that I get stuck somewhere at some point. So   I probably should have a little kit of, like, tow straps   or   some kind of way of getting myself out of even just a snowbank or some thick snow or something like that.   So I spent, you know, a couple days   trying to figure out, okay. Well, what's the easiest way to do this? Because when we were there, my father's truck, which is a four wheel drive, you know, truck with winter tires and stuff, he was just slipping by himself trying to just Yeah. Get out of there. So, like, there's no way he can pull me up there.   So I started, like,   looking at rigging equipment   and okay. Well, this van is super heavy. I need, like, maybe a mechanical advantage and get a bunch of pulleys. There's a bunch of trees there I can use, which is a very fun exercise for those of us who have, like, technically minded brains.  

Part of the challenge is, like, the the things I could strap on to who are, like, 60 feet away. So it's, like, just a really interesting set of challenges.   So took a couple days to, like, go get a bunch of rigging equipment   and, like, different   potential solutions to drag this   either the van   up the hill or down the hill.   And got a bunch of, like, traction sand and salt and, like, went the day before and, you know, called a bunch of people to help me out just in case. And so, I shoveled that   that hill, like, about three times before we actually tried to get this van out. So it was probably there for, like,   half a week before we went back, and we're like, okay. Let's let's do this. And we had I think I bought, like, $600   worth of various Woah. Straps and   pulleys and, like, different things, which is   almost as much as I we bought the van for. So I just kinda like Isn't that ironic? Mhmm. Isn't that ironic?  

But it was kind of a fun learning experience too because,   it's a useful skill. Right? If I'm going to be driving in this kind of conditions and my vehicle's obviously not quite optimum for it even though I   I even though I decide to do it.   Yeah. Yeah. Like, well, may as well have some resources to get myself out of some of these binds. And I kinda find it sort of fun after, like, the adrenaline of almost falling downhill,   happens. Right.  

[00:36:43] Unknown:

And you did get it out. It is not safe. We did get it out. And Yep. You got even got chains on there. Well,  

[00:36:49] Unknown:

it turns out the chains were the right answer.   We kind of strategically chose the day as well. So it the weather really cleaned up a couple days later, and things started, like, melting.   And the gravel that was under all of that ice on that hill started becoming available and loose, and we put a bunch of, salt as well.   So it was the ideal conditions really to get it get it out, which is,   you know, a a better decision of ours to do that, than to   not have used the chains in the first place. So it turned out we didn't need any of the rigging equipment,   which was great. And I struggled, but was able to get the chains on the van   in place   and just kind of slowly move back and forth with a a few people who were spotting me to make sure I didn't, you know, fall down that hill or anything   and,   eventually get it up. So it turned out to be fine.  

It was stressful in the moment. It was fun to research all these different   things I should probably have in the van, but,   you know, adventure continues with that machine. It's just an adventure seeking machine, and,   it didn't it didn't let up recently.  

[00:37:58] Unknown:

So you've gone now from rescuing the van from the snow to trying to save the batteries from the freezing cold. Right? Because this is another thing that's really gonna be a winter challenge is lithium batteries   don't charge once they go below freezing.  

[00:38:14] Unknown:

Yeah. Yeah. So you've kind of told me this. If you're in Brent's area, that's a problem. And I never really   considered any solution to it until I really needed it. So, the van has two   lithium batteries that, Chris, you used to use in the RV. Right? These are the ones that you took out when you upgraded your system.   Yeah. They've been amazing. They've been really great for my use over the the summer and for our Texas trip.   I think I'm probably underusing them. Like, they're too big for what I need, but frigging is it ever fun learning about all this DC wiring and, like, you see on the left of the photo on the stream there, there's a solar charge controller. So I've been learning about solar, and all of that stuff's been super fun.   But I never really considered, you know, for six months of the year over here, everything's gonna be really, really, really cold.  

And lithium batteries, that's fine for, like, your starter battery, which is a lead acid.   They don't mind being abused. But it turns out lithium batteries, if you charge them   under about freezing temperature,   they form, like,   metallic crystals   inside the battery,   and that can basically end up shorting the battery at some point if you abuse it enough.   So it's really, really, really, really bad for them to charge them under   those temperatures.   And I guess I hadn't clued into how serious that is and how I would probably   saw need to solve that before the winter showed up.  

So I had the batteries, like, beautifully charged.   And for about a week there, I was like, okay. It's warm enough out. I'm gonna charge them. And now this is just like none of the days are warm enough to charge this thing. So   it's been   challenging because I love you know, you you form some love for this equipment, and I have a love of these batteries, but they're just, like,   solid ice blocks at this point. And it's okay to discharge them at that point, but not to charge them. So Right. I've been a little, maybe, hesitant   to take them out because I think we worked so hard to, like, put them in there, and I just want the van to be a self contained unit. The right the right thing is to take them out and bring them in and, like, treat them properly.  



[00:40:19] Unknown:

But I really wanna build a heating system for them. Right. I was gonna say you could option. Right? There's options. There's, like, heating pads. Are you monitoring the temperatures now? Do you have a sense of how cold they are getting at the moment? Yeah. I'd have to do a little temperature conversion for you here, but, they're basically  

[00:40:37] Unknown:

I guess, it would be, like, 30 degrees.   Oh, okay. That's just a guess here. Let me get you some actual temperature. But you have, like, a sensor on there?   Yes. So there's,   basically, a temperature probe that I was able to strap onto one of the batteries. So the solar charge controller I have does have some temperature monitoring at this point. Oh, good. So it's, you know, fairly accurate.   You know, obviously, the inside of the battery is a different temperature than the external case that I've taped this thermal probe to, but it's it's about close.   So I've been just monitoring that. I probably should have a better solution that I can plug into, you know, home assistance. I have some long term tracking, but I just didn't think it was worth it considering it's quite obvious that they're way under temperature.  

Sure. So Yeah. I was thinking   I might just build another one of these systems   to heat these batteries because, actually, the lowest temperature that it's gotten to in the last couple weeks is minus four Fahrenheit.   Oh, okay. Oh. And so that's, like, extremely cold. Right? And Yeah. In January, February, it gets even colder than that. So   I really wanna build a system where I can just leave them in there because I won't take the whole heat burn. Is that what you think of it? The another thing I've looked at is various options. So one thing you might like is,   RV tank heating pads that you Yep. Stick on your RV tank are perfectly built for this because they are slow release   heaters. They don't take very much power. They're built for 12 volt, which is exactly you know, so I can plug them into the batteries, and the batteries themselves can heat themselves up, which is really good.  

And they have thermostats built into them. So they are perfectly suited to keep whatever you strap them to slightly above  

[00:42:22] Unknown:

freezing temperature, like, maybe five to 10 degrees Celsius above freezing temperature. As you would as you'd probably not be surprised. I don't love the built in thermostat. Mhmm. I mean, it is nice from a foolproof standpoint. But, see, here's what I would envision for you is   you would probably have a home assistant dashboard of your various heating components, and you would be able to individually   turn components on or off. So maybe you need pipe heating, maybe you need tank heating, maybe you need battery heating, or maybe you've you have evacuated the plumbing system. Mhmm. And so you've winterized the plumbing system and you only need battery heating.   Or maybe you're gonna work in there today, so you want to heat every like, so it'd be really nice to have individual system control.  

You know, you could use something like an ESP, Brentley. Something like an ESP. Yeah. See, this is where I wanted to  

[00:43:08] Unknown:

get a little bit of advice from you guys and maybe the community too is there are a few different ways to go about this. So   if you remember, Chris, you and I, like,   dug into relays. We were fixing your Hughes Autoformer,   and, you had some really cool relays in that thing that ultimately failed, but we were able to replace.   And they had little they were clear. And I was just, like, kinda fell in love with relays, which is really good. One of those solutions that you can do so much with because the idea of a relay is you could just provide teeny tiny amounts of power to it, and you're able to switch on and off something that uses a lot of power. So you can use a tiny microcontroller   to   switch on a heater, for instance. So it's a perfect tool to use in this particular case.  

With your RV, we if you remember in Linux Unplugged, we built, like, a fan   controlled   temperature,   evacuation system for your bays when you were running in the heat   because your battery banks were getting too hot. So we kinda did the opposite for you, was use an ESP   and a temperature probe and also a little board that had relays on it to turn a couple fans on and off. And   I think that's an okay solution.   The beauty of it, of course, is that you can do monitoring. You can bring it into home assistant. You can write some   automation for it. So, obviously, I think you think this is the way to go. But my other consideration was, like,   it might be sorta nice   to have a stand alone system   because   I'm not confident   that I can keep   the home assistant   machine running enough   without me tinkering with it that the batteries would be safe a 100% of the time. I I also recall before I had made the conscious decision,  

[00:44:59] Unknown:

alright, I am going all in on home assistant, and that means I'm going to make sure the system runs well. Mhmm. But what you end up with is half a dozen little absolutely critical systems that have to work and have to run, and none of them have any kind of coordination   or simplified remote control that doesn't require cloud access or Mhmm. Crazy firewall stuff. So it's like, I kind of ended up realizing that, well, this is actually a better central point of failure, if you will, because it's a manageable central point of failure with an obvious learning path for me that I'm incentivized to continue to learn anyways. Very true. Platform I can build on for years. And, you know, I'd say six, seven years into it, six, seven, pretty much accurate. So I don't know, but you're right. You gotta do what you gotta do.   Doesn't mean I won't say I told you so.  



[00:45:41] Unknown:

Oh, I'm I'm perfectly fine with that.   So I was, like, kinda going down the path of seeing what the other options were because I totally know the home assistant path is a great one. And Mhmm. I already have home assistant sitting in the van, and I already have ESPs in a box sitting here and temperature so, like, I can I can rebuild the thing you and I built basically   for your cooling and just use it from a heating perspective? The idea being   that I could just have heaters available if a charger is on, and it would heat   sort of the battery compartment   enough   without charging the batteries until it got to a certain point, let's say, 10 Celsius or above freezing. Yeah. Yeah. And then the chargers would you know, a relay would switch, and the chargers would also so when I say chargers, I mean solar or if I plug it into AC or if I'm using the DC to DC charger from the engine.  

So, you know, I have three different ways of charging the batteries, but those wouldn't be   able to charge the battery until it was above a certain temperature threshold. And then the relay switch and make that available. So Mhmm. I like that. That's my idea because then it's, like, a 100%.   Those will not   charge if it's under a certain temperature Yeah. Which which I think is a pretty good system. Mhmm. Right now, I've been doing it manually. I'm not the best on and off switch for these things. Right? So I did find a little control board, which seems really interesting.   W   board, which seems really interesting.  

W 12 o nine temperature control switch is basically what this thing is called,   and it looks like it's a fairly common design.   There's a little company, HiLetGo, which I think some of the relays that we used in your cooling project, they made some of the relay boards that we used.   And this thing is, like, purpose built to do exactly what I'm trying to do. It has a temperature probe.   Oh, it looks like cool, like, buttons so that you can set your thresholds   on the board itself.   So it's a little microcontroller   that you are basically setting,   and then it has a couple relays on there. So one for   basically switching,   something like a heater. Right? So it's exactly   pretty much exactly what I'm looking for.  

And they're very available, very inexpensive.   So I think I found one on Amazon for $10 for two boards. Alright. Two of them. Alright. Uh-huh. Well, redundancy. Right?   Well, I mean, yeah, that's great. That's a great price. Yeah. So I went down this path and I was thinking, well, jeez. I could just use one of these   and   have it be all just   built in   and not have to have, you know, a computer that I have to keep up and running and a Wi Fi system I need to keep up and running to make sure that, you know, the temperature probes and everything's talking to itself.   I guess I could program an ESP to be a standalone device,   but I don't know if you can do things like this board handles things like hysteresis, which basically if you're near that, let's say, zero degree set point, it would, like, turn on and off, on and off because you're kinda dancing around that set point. So this basically just puts delays and stuff in place. I think you can do that with ESPN. Have it all do it locally. But either one, I mean, I think I like I like both solutions, really. To be honest with you, I'm kinda giving you a hard time. I like that too, especially for that price. You can't really argue if that includes the thermostat. So Price and availability. Right? It's like, if one blows, I can easily get another one and swap it out. So that seems really enticing.  

So, yeah, that's where I'm at. I haven't implemented yet. I'm at the, like, design phase, and then I got to a point where I was like, I should I should I should chat with Chris and see   how much trouble he's given me for going this way. I'd say I'd say get those batteries out of there for now, but it's just Yeah. Yeah. You're probably right. Because the, solar controller also tells me kind of the state of the batteries. I don't have a great monitoring system to tell me the state of charge. Sure. But it at least has, like, you know, the voltage and also dumb lights on the side is basically, you know, green, yellow,   red. And currently, the yellow and red ones are on, and I think it's trying to tell me something. So, And it it's saying, hey, dummy. Yeah. Hey hey, human. Please take care of this. So I might I might end up pulling that out.  



[00:49:51] Unknown:

Well,   I I hope I hope that works out because I'd love to I'd actually love to pick your brain and build something like that for Jupps. We have, I think something we should talk about for the members after the show about protecting our bottoms. But   but,   we have eight voice mails to get to this week. We have eight voice mails. So we're gonna pause there. We'll pivot,   and we'll come back for the members, for covering our bottoms.   We're going to reset  

[00:50:16] Unknown:

with a value for value track. Now's the time. It's the song of the week. Remember,   you can boost the track.  

[00:50:23] Unknown:

They sure like that. Yeah. I've actually featured this one once before, but it just seemed really appropriate for today's episode.   It's Run to Safer Ground   by Heidi Masters.  

[00:51:04] Unknown:

I hate how it feels   lying in the fields,   hunting   for empathy   while it looks away from me, hiding in the  

[00:52:33] Unknown:

Echoes in the night chasing visions taking flight for the darkness spirits weave breads of time we start to clean.   Rise.   Bookprints fading  

[00:53:40] Unknown:

in the sun, dark hide my place   and take   a   stand.  

[00:53:48] Unknown:

And now,   on with the show.  

[00:53:52] Unknown:

Well, I'm just gonna make a quick call to my launch. I haven't checked in since yesterday.   (774)   462-5667.   That's it. Alright. (774)   462-5667.   Call now.   Alright, YouTube.  

[00:54:11] Unknown:

We do have some voice mails to get to. We got eight great voice mails, and Mark from Northern Michigan kicks us off.  

[00:54:19] Unknown:

Hey, Chris and Angela. Mark from Northern Michigan   calling Tuesday evening.   Wow. The roads got icy all of a sudden. Woah. Driving home from Southern Michigan. So, hey, Dom from Southern Michigan.   Greetings. Maybe we'll catch up sometime and do lunch since I work down in Southern Michigan.   The things that   I do   that I wouldn't let anybody else to do,   well, it happened to me this morning on my way down to date for work work 15.   For the third year in a row, the front end of my car has hit a deer. Oh. So   don't do what I do. Avoid the deers. Even when you can't avoid them, avoid the deers. Oh my gosh.   Greetings and salutations  

[00:55:05] Unknown:

to all. I need to get off here because it's getting really bad. Be careful out there. That's really funny. Oh, Mark. Wouldn't it be great if the launch inspired a lunch and they got together?   Yeah. The deer situation at certain times of the year is just   awful. Mhmm.  

[00:55:21] Unknown:

Yeah.   Well, in the more housing developments, like, around my house,   there's there's at least four new communities being built. And this is where the I always see deer, and I don't know where they're gonna go. So they're gonna be in the street,  

[00:55:34] Unknown:

like, crossing the road. As a as a Canadian brand, do you just develop, like, a sixth sense when they're around?   Or do the moose scare them off? Like, is it is it a big problem?  

[00:55:43] Unknown:

It it certainly is,   especially when the roads get worse, for instance Yeah. Like I was just discussing. Right?   And even if your reaction time is good enough, like, sometimes there's nothing you can do. So   but I I didn't really realize   just how much of a problem this was or how how unskilled I was at spotting deer until I moved to BC into the Rocky Mountains.   And I had a warning from my brother, but it's like every single day if you're out near, you know, sundown,   there's elk and deer everywhere on all of the roads. So I luckily   have never   stricken anything. I've come close a couple times on, like, some back roads.  

Dictum.   Not not kiss them like I did that mountain that one time, but, like, to the point where, you know, you gotta react and you're like, oh, okay. This is a real danger that I need to deal with on a daily basis. Right? Heart pumping. So it does depend a little bit on where you're living. That's for sure. Because the density   of those kind of,   animals on the road where I live in BC is very high. I don't think that's typical for most of the rest of the continent,   but it is   it is yeah. It worries me. My brother hit one,   a couple months ago, and it totaled his truck, basically. Yeah. And they say facts.  

Even if you can   like, the reaction   to swerve is not the right   decision.   Because, basically,   if you hit a deer and for anybody who has this experience, let me know. But if you hit a deer, like, you might destroy your vehicle, but you won't die. Right? If you hit a moose, it's maybe a different story. But if you try to swerve away from the deer to, like, save your vehicle or whatever, then you introduce all sorts of,   like  

[00:57:26] Unknown:

Other complications.  

[00:57:28] Unknown:

Yeah. Your car could could it could flip.   It could you know, you could hit a tree. You can go into it. Yeah. There's so many other things that can happen where, generally, if you strike a deer, it will make a giant dent in your vehicle, but you'll generally be okay from what I hear and anecdotally see.   A moose is a totally different story. But,   so every you know, if you're in deer country, then just avoid, you know, running yourself off the road maybe, and, you can get a new car. They're all over the place.  

[00:57:55] Unknown:

Our, friendly editor, Drew, isn't necessarily dodging deer, but he does dodge dodge some bunnies from time to time. Hey, guys. Friendly editor, Drew, again.  

[00:58:04] Unknown:

Yeah. I've been a lifelong migraine sufferer   since I was, like, 15, and   the only thing that has ever really helped came along barely recently in my life, just in the past, like, four or five years, and that's sumatriptan.   Tritons   are highly, highly effective against migraines, at least for me. Some people say that they have issues where they feel like they're floating. I do feel a little floaty, but it's worth it. It knocks it out in a couple hours, but, unfortunately, it will knock you out   too. So, you know, maybe talk to your doctor about that.   This information is not intended as medical advice. Please consult your doctor or health care professional before making any health related decisions.  



[00:58:46] Unknown:

Thanks, guys. Love you. Bye. Wow.   That was good.  

[00:58:50] Unknown:

That could be a hot tip. You might look into that. Yeah. Definitely. I mean, knocking me out too. I had some nights   where I just could not sleep because my head was I mean, I did sleep ultimately, but trying to fall asleep with a migraine is is horrible. No bueno.  

[00:59:05] Unknown:

I Alright. Am, like, on the other side of spectrum. I never get headaches except for, like, once or twice a year, and I'm just a baby about them. I cannot like, it's probably the gentlest headache, and I just can't deal with them. So I I lots empathy to those who have to deal with, migraines. My god.  

[00:59:21] Unknown:

Adversary seventeen called in. Hey, Chris and Anders. Adversary seventeen. Just wanted to also add another tip to the how not to get sick.   Add vitamin d to your diet, especially during the winter.   It's   very available.   It's   very cheap.   And just taking two to   three thousand   extra IU a day goes a very long way in boosting your immune system.   Steve Gibson did a   very lengthy podcast   on how vitamin d   is very good   for you. He has a whole page on it on his website. I can boost that in later   as I'm driving right now. But   he has been taking   five thousand for the last   decade or so and has not gotten sick, but maybe once or twice   in that time.  

He's,   got a lot of research on that page, but   just   add some vitamin d to your diet, especially during wintertime when  

[01:00:25] Unknown:

you're not out in the sun getting it naturally. Yeah. I'm gonna do that. Yeah. I have some, but I haven't been taking it. Yeah. Me too. Same. We're gonna do it, though. Yeah. Doctor  

[01:00:37] Unknown:

I can't remember. All I can think of is doctor Phil. Anyway, there is a you're supposed to take it with a k two. Okay. Yeah. I do yeah. That that is a thing I need to look into. I think you gotta take to make it really work. But don't worry. We have more. Adversaries called right back. Hey, guys. It's Andrew. A  

[01:00:53] Unknown:

wow. Oh. It's Adversary seventeen once again. I can't speak anymore. Adversaries. When are you going to call people? You keep saying or you have said in the past that you're just gonna call some numbers, and   maybe that'll help with the episodes where you have   lack   of voice mails or lack of callers.   Once again, I will give you   my permission to just call my number at any point. You have it  

[01:01:20] Unknown:

several times, actually. Oh, we should do it right now. We're gonna call you. Free.  

[01:01:24] Unknown:

Anyways,  

[01:01:25] Unknown:

see you next week. You know, it's because the voice mails have worked a little better than the live calls. Mhmm. So I've just sort of inclined to go towards the voice mails,   because,   sometimes, like, it doesn't pick up right or there's the interface is laggy, and it just doesn't make for a great experience.   But, I do think we'll do a I think maybe what we should do is   kinda just pull the seal off and give it a go for one episode one of these days or maybe in the New Year. Yeah. And then, maybe for, like, a New Year's episode or something. Nice. That could be fun. That could be fun. Alright. I love when people call in during their drive.  

[01:01:59] Unknown:

Hey, Chris. Hey, Angela. Happy belated birthday, Angela. Thank you. You got me on my Thursday morning commute.   Multiple topics catching   up. The main reason I believe that companies want you to use their app for the web   for prep first   is so they can harvest your data.   Surprise.   Yeah. Yeah. Right. And then they'll you know, the offshore call centers are cheaper, so they'll do that.   Post office is slightly different because their funding model is not based on inbound revenue, but what   government,   as in congress,   manages their budget at some level, probably pretty high, but, nonetheless, they keep getting staff cuts.  

So   that's that.   Spam. Who gets spam?   Never go in the spam folder. Nothing good will ever come of that   unless you're, like, searching for something. I'm not even looking for my spam folder. Noticed spam. The only spam phone calls I get are because I own a domain that I have abandoned,   and they want manage it for me, and I yell at them.   Never ever call me again is what I yell.   So   either way, Kevin from Raleigh because I forgot to say it at the front,   And keep up the good work. Good luck. I used to have migraines, Angela. I thought they weren't they were sinus headaches caused by   a a a minor, like,   broke in my head that was pushing on the sinuses.  

We took that out. Poof. All gone. Wow. Probably not your problem because you talked about it   being connected to your cycle. Yeah. Good luck with finding some some relief. Thank you. Have a great week. Bye. Yeah. It's the thing people struggle with. Mhmm.  

[01:03:44] Unknown:

Mhmm. Alright. So Thomas called in. He's a long time listener. Hey, Chris and Angela. This is, Thomas, long time listener,  

[01:03:51] Unknown:

since back with the Lumix Action Show.   I was calling regarding Angela's headaches.   Wanted to know if you guys looked into cluster headaches, something I've been dealing with for a while,   and they, kinda match up with what she's been experiencing.   They're in the migraine headache family, but not everything that works for migraines work for these. And they're very sporadic, but   they're they're also very calculated. They come around around the same time.   Usually, it gets misdiagnosed   because it seems seasonal, but you guys should look into it. They have a lot of treatments now where they didn't have a few years ago, but those are cluster headaches. Alright. See if see if that helps. Hope everything goes well,  

[01:04:34] Unknown:

and it's good always hearing you guys. Thank you, Thomas. Thanks, Thomas. So, actually, I do have experience with cluster headaches. I saw a neurologist,   about seven or eight years ago about them.   They had different symptoms   than than what I'm currently experiencing.  

[01:04:49] Unknown:

Okay.  

[01:04:50] Unknown:

While mine is, for the most part, predictable,   when it will happen during the day, it is it is definitely tied to my cycle, and it it lasts the whole time. Like, it it just there's no,   sporadic   instant pain.   I was getting, like, lightning bolts, and it felt like my hair was being pulled in the cluster headaches.   This is just a migraine where where my senses are just all   way oversensitive.  

[01:05:17] Unknown:

It's a good information, though, Thomas. Somebody listening Definitely. Might find that useful. And thank you for being a long time listener.   Well, Magnolia Mayhem's back.  

[01:05:26] Unknown:

Oh oh, do I do I hate having to make unnecessary phone calls? Do I hate talking on the phone?   Do I let let me I I   cannot stand. Somebody calling me for something that could have been a text message. Oh, yeah. They changed 530 good chicks. And the worst part is my wife is the worst about this,   And and I can't I can't be mean about it. I actually do that. So if she's nice, then she'll tell me and be and say something that could've been a text message. And then she'll sit there and chew into the microphone   and talk to people in the background   and and   talk to herself as she does her job and walk around. And, eventually,   I just have to go, okay. I I'm hanging on now. I'm I'm hanging on now.  

I I don't have time for that. Okay. You moved 05:30 to 06:00. Alright. Let's do this.   Come on. Sitting on the phone sitting on the phone when when it could've been a text message? Yeah.   I start losing my mind. I'm cutting more unhinged by the second. Yeah. I got you. You gotta call you gotta call first. Being on the phone, unless I'm yelling at a voice mail. Okay.   Whatever. But we appreciate that. Magnolia's mayhem. In which case, you're welcome. Bye. We should call him. Yeah. We should be here for the call.  

[01:06:37] Unknown:

Like, it's gonna be a text, Magnolia. But That would be so good.  

[01:06:41] Unknown:

Yeah. I I do I don't mind calls, but I do like the, hey, can we   chat on the phone first message, you know, like Mhmm. Make sure, like, hailing channels are actually open. Right? Right? Don't just hail me. You know? Jeez.  

[01:06:55] Unknown:

Alright. I feel like in our lifetimes, that's the the, like   The norm? Yeah. What you're allowed to do with phone calls has changed. Like, when we were kids, right, it was like, you had no choice. You pick up the phone and you call at whatever random hour you feel like calling, and then the phone rang. And, if you're on the Internet, Chris, like you were, then nobody gets through. But Yeah. I don't know.   But that's totally shifted with smartphones. Like, I I'm the same with you. Like, we've all moved for the most part, it sounds like, but maybe not man's wife,   moved to, like, the heads up.  



[01:07:27] Unknown:

I've noticed that perhaps   it skews for age demographics.   Like, maybe   folks that grew up with the phone system   for a long time that didn't have any kind of messaging capability, they still just pick up the phone and call each other. Yeah.   And then the folks like us   who did,   we kind of, you know,   if you if it's like it feels like the level is if you can't resolve it, first, you try text messages. And if you can't resolve it with text messages, you go for the, hey. Are you up for a quick call? And then if you get the go ahead, that's when you make the call. Right? That's the appropriate   millennial post and post millennial,   phone etiquette, I think.  



[01:08:06] Unknown:

There's, like, a flow schematic of what's, socially acceptable for phone calls. I believe so. Gotta move your way through it. And I believe everybody should know about it. I think they should.  

[01:08:15] Unknown:

Alright. Our last caller is Caleb from Pittsburgh.  

[01:08:19] Unknown:

Hey, launch crew. This is Caleb from Pittsburgh.   I had a story about the Facebook,   like, video scanning or face scanning story from HybridCircuits. I think it was last episode or episode before.   So in search for a Christmas gift for my wife, I came to Facebook Marketplace,   and I was like, oh, I had I think I had a Facebook account long ago. We said I back into it. Oh, I think I deleted it because I didn't want it anymore. It's as long as I got in the first place was for Marketplace.  

[01:08:49] Unknown:

I was like, oh, I have to create a new account. I'm just using my same email. And, of course, I got the  

[01:08:54] Unknown:

scary video, you know, take a video selfie of yourself screen.   And then I do it, and it's like, oh, you got the you know, your request for a new account's been, like, pending. You'll hear back in an hour from Facebook if it's been approved or whatever. And I get an email an hour later saying, yeah. You're not all you can't create an account. You were your request was denied. You know? You're not allowed to create an account. Your account has been activated. What? So I I was, like, locked out. Like, I couldn't use that email again. I couldn't, like, set up a new account and go through process again. I was, like, locked out. So I'm like, okay. I need this Christmas gift. Like, it's coming up. What what am I gonna do? Well, I do my work email. Yep. You know, of course. They caught that. Same video. I am able to create an account. I don't have to do the video as yet. So What? It's all working out, but it was just very confusing and It is confusing. Makes me not want to use Facebook anymore. Yeah. Thanks for everything. Talk later. That damn FaceBag marketplace.  

[01:09:44] Unknown:

I tell you what, I wish I could use it without FaceBag. So the wife Adia had an account for years since face bag was first a thing, and she used it to manage her business and her businesses page, which a lot of her boomer clients use to communicate and find her.   And one day, face bag says, account shut down. You can't use it. You did something wrong. She didn't do anything wrong. Mhmm. Right? I mean, this literally all she does is update her business page. So they yank her account. So then she loses account to her business page. So then she decides, well, okay. I'll go sign up and I'll use my newer email address and all that. So she goes to create a new Facebook account   and it identified that she was the same person, like, because of her IP or something like that and shut down all new account creation for her for a while. Oh, wow. Yeah. Yeah. I remember getting a friend request, and I text I screenshot it. And I'm like Yeah. Hey. Just so you know, I think somebody yeah. And she's like, no. It's actually me. Yeah. Yeah. It really was. It was it was the weirdest thing where they were really cracking down on her, and she's like the most, like, vanilla face bag user ever. It just didn't make any sense. So Right. Well, at this point, if you manage pages that violate, they will take down your personal profile. So I actually am, admins of a couple of pages that are, you know, that might take me down. Yeah. I mean, for for her thing, though? I mean, she's, like, business hours. You know? Yeah. It's weird. But, anyways, thank you, Caleb. Appreciate that. Thank you. Everybody who called the launch, give us a call. Tell us how your holiday went and how you feel about   Die Hard as a Christmas movie and any cat tips for Ang here. Voice mails, boost are all appreciated.  

Well, speaking of boost   And now it is time for Le Boost. Adversary 17 delivered, and he's also our baller booster with 40,966  

[01:11:29] Unknown:

sats. Hey, Richard. I'm stuck.  

[01:11:33] Unknown:

He's a good guy. He's a real good guy. Oh, he's a great guy. He is a great guy. He sends us the vitamin d page that he mentioned in the voice mail at g r c dot com. We'll put a link to that in the notes. He says, I stream stats in Fountain, but the bootleg feed is at odds   with the fountain streaming. I know it's because Fountain uses the podcast index API for boost information. But when the Podverse rewrite comes out, I'll be on that. And, hopefully, I'll be able to read the RSS feed like the current version does. Yeah. The new Podverse   development, seems to be going well. Mitch has been popping up on the podcast index social   and kinda teasing everybody with what's coming. So I'm excited about Podverse rewrite. Thank you, versaries.  

Always appreciate you. You, you're a good guy. You're a real good guy. You know?   Let's hear it good, buddy. Send us a boost in time.   Johnny Castaway is here with twenty five thousand one hundred and twenty sats.   Feels like an appropriate username this week. Johnny writes, just boosted love and now I'm sending love to the launch. It gives me a break from endlessly stacking or yeah. Stacking projects and ideas, which I blame Chris West and Brent for. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.   I'll take that. Melissa's getting long. Angela, treat yourself to a festive treat. The split's Lenny with Chris and Drew. They can team up to buy you something too. Funny.   Y'all have fantastic festive season with Joey Satsen, zero port forwarding from the South Coast. That's so great. He's in The UK. Thank you very much, Johnny Castaway.  

Make it so. Really appreciate that.   That's that's great.   Magnolia Mayhem's here with 2,444   sets. Oh my god. This drawer is filled with fruit loops. And he made it home just in time for a live boost.   But Just pump the brakes right there. You missed it just by a few minutes,   so he follows up with a never mind. But you were Uh-huh. You were the first to get into this episode's batch.   So   that's something. Right?   That's something. Outdoor geek comes in with 5,000   sats.   Angela, it could be eye strain. Yeah. Maybe that's a factor in your migraine. Do you have, more glare in your computing environment than previously? Also, are your workstation ergonomics at home as well as as your office? Solving migraines and headaches has a Nobel Prize in medicine potential. Yeah. Really. Right? Yeah. Yeah. My home is my office,  

[01:13:47] Unknown:

so,   it's the same setup. I don't think so. I do,   get my eyes checked regularly.   They've actually improved. My eyesight has improved. What? How did you do that? I don't know.   Well, my doctor suggests that it's because I like, when I read, I read without my glasses on. Oh, so you're kinda forcing your eyes to work? Kind of. Yeah. But   so I don't think the eye strain is a factor.  

[01:14:13] Unknown:

I do use what is it called? The tilt shift? No. Oh, yeah. For, like, the, the the less blue stuff. Less less blue. Too. But yeah. Right? I know what you mean. Blue light killer for, yeah, screens. I do that.  

[01:14:25] Unknown:

Also,   I I'm   like, it's so cyclical. Like, it's predictably cyclical,   and I use my computer all the time. Mhmm. So why would it only be during, you know That's a good point. Before, during, or after my That's a good point. My cycle. So   yeah. That's good. By cycle, just to be clear, menses.   When I'm menstruating We got you. Before, during, or after. That's what happens.  

[01:14:48] Unknown:

You're a hot ticket. Yeah. We got you. We got you. Okay.   Yeah. Alright. He is right, though. Nobel Peace Prize in medicine if they solve it. Tell you what. Yeah. Sounds like a lot of people deal with it.   Chuck Runamuck is here with 5,550   plus stats. I don't understand what the heck is going on here. I finally got boost enabled. It was non trivial, but I got it done. Well done.   It is a bit of a moment of accomplishment.   He says, you're talking about creating email aliases. Gmail has a couple of hacks for that. First, you can add a plus sign for any string after it goes to the same and it'll go to the same address. Yep. So like joeblow+[email protected].   What a great example. Goes to joeblow dot com. Yeah.  

And then you can create filters based on that alias. Another hack is you can add periods arbitrarily. So joe dot blow. Mhmm. Also the same as joe blow. Yeah. That is my favorite thing about Gmail. And they've had that for years. Yeah.   I wonder if does anybody have other providers like Proton and others steal that? Because they should.  

[01:15:46] Unknown:

That'd be really great. I, I have my email with, like, a local Canadian provider. It's pretty darn good. So I've kind of dealt with my own domain, so I don't use Gmail as I'm sure no one is surprised by.   Mhmm. The   interesting thing I've discovered with the plus addressing, which, you know, has been a a thing in Gmail for a long time, but I also have available in my own domain's email because I guess that's available   with the email platform I'm using,   which   is amazing. And then Thunderbird actually clues into that quite well and can, like, auto create folders and stuff like that. It's it's really brilliant. The reason I do it is just for, like, tracking   damn spammers and stuff like that. Yeah. Who the leaks?  

Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. A bit of filtering too. But I've discovered that, like,   a surprisingly high percentage   of,   like, login pages   don't accept   plus as a character.   Yes. So I gotta say it's might be, like, 10%. It's quite high. Dot is a is a bit more commonly accepted. Mhmm. Dot is. So Yeah. I agree. But it's so that's one factor that I've discovered   in my I don't know how I find bugs on everybody's web pages all the time, but that's a thing that came up quite surprisingly high. And, it kind of brings, you know, joy to me that I've discovered that their website is just broken, but also very annoying because then I can't apply my message. They never conceived of a plus sign, Brent. They never conceived a such a thing. But they should.   Also, if you're on the phone and someone's like, okay. What email do you want for your new account? And you've you've, like, you know, say Brent plus and then their company name, they get so confused and, like, wait. You can't do that? Like, no. No. No. It's it's a special so I gotta explain it all anyways.  



[01:17:25] Unknown:

Small update.   I looked at my most current emails, and anything that I didn't wanna receive anymore, I just started,   filtering by that and just deleting them Uh-huh. And unsubscribing.   Nextdoor is the worst. Yeah. You have to go into Nextdoor, and then they have, like, a subcategory of, like, 13 different things   that then also have six different things.   And I don't know what to actually disable, but I just don't need to know No. About some of these things. All gossip and all the hot gossip. Weather alert, you know Yeah. Latest news,   paper news. There's a 100 other services that give you that crap too. Right. Yeah. So I just started doing that. I went from, like, 1,300 unread to about seven twenty five,   and then I give up because I, you know, I have a life. Yeah. There are other things to do. But I am working on it, and it is less.  



[01:18:09] Unknown:

It is getting less. Alright. Well, Byte Benton's gonna round us out with 4,000 sats. Put some macaroni and cheese on there too. He votes Die Hard is a movie during Christmas, not a Christmas movie. Oh. Oh. I agree with this 100%. That's an interesting categorization. I feel like if the movie takes place during Christmas, it makes a candidate for a Christmas movie.   And if you watch it during Christmas And here's it's a it's a pretty yeah. Like, so it's a rough so for example, Star Trek generations, the seventh film in the Star Trek franchise,   has a scene where Captain Picard travels to the Nexus and he experiences Christmas with with a family. It's the only Star Trek movie that has a Christmas scene. Ergo, it's the Star Trek Christmas movie.  

Yeah. That's how I feel about it. But maybe I'm wrong. Yeah. There is a difference. There is a difference. It's because it's not like it's not like, you know,   Lampoon's holiday vacation Christmas vacation or something where it's it's clearly a Christmas movie song. Or Home Alone. Bites got me on a technicality. I wanna see if others agree. Boost and let us know. Thank you everybody   who did support this show. We had six of you, couple have ticked up there. Six of you stream sats stacking collectively 10,166   sats for this here episode. When you combine that with our boosters, we stacked it oh, just under a 100,000. 94,251   sats.  

Thank you, everybody. Make it sound. Appreciate you.   You can boost the show too with Fountain FM. They're making it easier and easier all the time. Or you can go the self host route with someone like AlbiHub and the whole infrastructure. Podcastapps.com   is where you wanna get started.   And, we really appreciate the support for this here individual episode.   Really is, a value for value. There's no other there's no sponsor. We have members, and we have boosters.   Alright. One last thing to get to.   Before we go, I gotta tell you about this town.   Town that is being terrorized during the holidays.  

A town in Virginia is having their liquor store ransacked,   some nearby convenience stores. People wanna go in and get some holiday booze, and instead, the store is shut down because one individual could not contain themselves and went on one hell of a bender in Virginia.  

[01:20:27] Unknown:

It's a story that's been making waves, and it's one that feels like it started from a Mad Lib. Remember that game? Hanover County Animal Protection and Shelter says on Saturday morning, an officer responded to a call   at the Ashland ABC store only to discover a suspect had broken in and ransacked   several shelves as you see. The suspect right there, a very intoxicated   raccoon who was later found passed out in the bathroom.   Officer Martin safe safely transported the masked bandit back to the shelter to sober up. After several hours of sleep and no signs of injury other than maybe a hangover,   he was safely   released.  



[01:21:10] Unknown:

Now like I mentioned, the story has already gone viral with over one and a half million views and one hundred thousand Raccoon gets drunk as a skunk in a liquor store and actually passes out in the bathroom next to the toilet, which is just classic. I mean, at least they don't have to wonder what happened. It's so perfect, though. It could've passed out anywhere it passes out next to the toilet.   Alright. Now, I I wanna get your take, Brent, and then I wanna get Angela's take. Brent, do are you hip to the six seven meme at all?  

[01:21:40] Unknown:

I mean, it has come to my attention. It's, my father who explained it to me because, he had a younger generation explain it to him. So thank you, father.  

[01:21:51] Unknown:

But that's about all the exposure to it. Are you hip to the six, seven, man? I mean, the kids are just constantly   Well, our kids have walked it back a little bit. They say it's it's the newbies that are using it more. But it took a couple of waves. You know? It took a couple of waves. It it started, and I noticed the kids were using it, and then it faded. And then it came back, and the kids started using it again.   And you could say it's starting to cause a problem.   Yeah. If you could believe it, it's causing a problem not just for us as parents Where? But it's causing a problem  

[01:22:18] Unknown:

at a West Coast classic, In N Out Burger. In N Out Burger is taking a stand against the viral six seven that you keep hearing kids holler. When the fast food chain calls out order numbers for pickup, 67 is no longer among them. Apparently before, the number kept causing upwars and chaos in the restaurant.   67 is the second number to get banned from in and out. Could you guess the first number? 69. Yeah. Operating system. The other,   you might have guessed it. Yep. 69.  

[01:22:45] Unknown:

You got it. You got it. I have I have seen some videos of,   when at basketball games, when 67 points crazy? Yeah. They go? It is crazy. That's funny. You know, I was thinking system,   76   Oh, yeah. Seven six. Make for for April fools if it's still going. Oh, that'd be funny. Yeah. They should change it to system six seven. Yeah.  

[01:23:04] Unknown:

You guys can take that idea. Run with it. Alright? Okay. There you go. That's our crazy show. Thank you for joining us, Brent.   Why don't you come back next week for our holiday special. Okay? Yeah. Anytime. Do you, you're gonna have some lunch  

[01:23:16] Unknown:

during the show? Or Oh. Oh. That's rich. That is real. And that's it for today. Sandwich and serve. Wow.  

[01:23:25] Unknown:

Links to what we talked about are at weeklylaunch.rocks.   You can find that over there. We won't be live next Tuesday, but we will have an episode for you. And, of course, we'd love it if you checked out that episode and more. We got the back catalog over at weeklylaunch.rocks   too. That's it from us from the beautiful Pacific Northwest and the mighty American West Coast. Thank you for listening, and we will see you right back here next week.