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All right, all right.

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Episode 134 Feeney talks with friends.

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I'm with a good friend.

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What's up Rick.
What's happenin man? Rick Wells.

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Great to be with you.

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Yeah, this is awesome.

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This is great.
This is Feeney talks with friends.

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I use this podcast, and I talk
with wonderful people in the community.

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They're doing great things.

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And you've been in the community
for quite some time in multifaceted areas.

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We're going to get into it.

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Yeah.

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Again, this is episode 134.

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My name is Eric Feeney, founder
and president of Friends of Feeney.

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Our mission is to help
children and families that need assistance

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after heartbreak or tragedy.

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And again, I use this podcast
and I talk to great people.

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So you're a good guy.
Thank you. You all right?

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Yeah. Now, I've been in the community
for a quarter century.

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Been 25 years now. Nice, nice.

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And, shout out to our,

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Do you ever get your house power washed?

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Not yet. Okay, well, I got a guy.

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Okay. Episode
133 was Ryan's Ryan McGinnis.

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Ryan. Soft wash.

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Great guy.

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We talked about how he helps
the community.

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Yeah, 
and if you ever need a house power washed.

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But he does it soft wash, so.

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Okay, check it out.

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We're going to talk about
a lot of things.

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I mean, you're like,
who I want to be when I grow up.

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That's it.

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Thank you.

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That's awesome.

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You got great military career. Yeah.

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Great teacher, physically fit,
good golfer.

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You were in a rap video.

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That is true.

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You're going there already.

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That's great.

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That's great.

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That's usually I keep my powder dry.

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That's the one I pull out if I need to.

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Okay. Yeah.
Which one do you want to talk about first?

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Let's talk about how we met, what we
what we did to begin with.

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So how is it being a male
in an elementary school?

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It's.

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I mean, for me, it was incredible.

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I'll talk about, you know, everyone asks

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how you do it,
how you deal with either kids or parents.

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And I'm not sure what they
what they're expecting when they respond.

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But for me, I was the secret was

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I was living a ten year old's life
for the last 20 years.

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Yeah.

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So when I grew up in new Jersey,
great town, called Bellville,

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beautiful village.

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And, you know,
we sports at the, at the playground

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and bounce pitch and and all those things
and Little League.

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It was just a spectacular life.

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So as a fourth and fifth grade teacher

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that age, I just recreated that

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every day for the kids,
that wonderful experience that I had.

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That's what I did.

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So I lived that.

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So, who
who was the first one out to recess?

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This guy.

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This guy. Right.

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I was more excited than the kids.

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And, that's what got me through.

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And of course, as a byproduct, you deal
with the wonderful people of West Hartford

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and and their kids,
who I love seeing around town now.

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And, I mean, that's that's a great life,
but that's the secret.

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So what was like being a male
just awesome.

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I think they appreciated that,

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the perspective I brought.

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But honestly, I was bringing a ten year
old boys perspective to the classroom.

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I agree because

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I try to make the classroom fun
how some how

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I would like to as a eight year old
or nine year old because I do third grade.

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You did fourth and fifth, right? Yes.

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For I started at fifth grade at Duffy
and then went to Webster

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Hill, where I was fourth grade
and then my final year was third grade.

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Oh, nice. Yeah. And you did 25 years.

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25 years total.

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I started teaching in southeast San Diego
when I was out there.

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When I got off active duty,
I started teaching in,

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San Diego, and that's
when I joined the reserves as well.

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Got, you know, it was great.

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You know, as a male in a,

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people say it's like being a rock star
just the first time.

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And especially third grade, first time.

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Some of these students may see a male
in a classroom as the teacher,

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hear the voice, the deep voice,
or maybe a little more stern or,

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what do you think?

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You know, another part to that was,

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And I don't know if it was everywhere
but you, you bring rules to the game.

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One of the things I found out early
is that

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it was at recess, particularly

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where I would organize games.

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Before that, it was mayhem
and there was no rules.

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There were playing a game,
but there were no rules.

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So either the big kid didn't get out,
he didn't want to get out,

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or this person didn't play right
and no one had fun.

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So when I started

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bringing myself to the recess,

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to the game and impose the rules,

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it was challenging.

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But everyone had fun,
because it was in the rules.

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And, you know,

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there is no game without rules,

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so I am incorporate that in the classroom
as well.

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It was it was clear this is what you do,
this is what you don't do.

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And I think that sense of clarity, 
is often missed.

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At least the power in it.

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Yeah,
I think episode 131 Anthony's Abatement.

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Yeah. Anthony Toro Tamayo.

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Yeah.

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Said on this podcast
just right here said his favorite teacher

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was Doctor Wells at Webb Hill.

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Yeah. Didn't
he even have. You know, that was.

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That was. Duffy.

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Excuse me. It was Duffy. Yeah.

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Didn't even have you as a as a classroom
teacher, but he was a big kid.

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He loved sports. Yeah.

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Him getting to look forward
to recess every day

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with you
made it possible for him to go to school.

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So with that, let's.

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Look at that powerful impact.

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There was at that recess and for

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decades after that,

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I would have I would organize recess.

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And there was that was a football game,

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and we'd have 22 on 22.

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So I'd be engaging 40 plus kids at a time.

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You know, I couldn't throw it to
all of them, but they were just fired up.

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22 when I went to Webb Hill,

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we play captured a footballs,
six footballs in each circle.

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Everyone had a flag.

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It was 40 on 42.

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If we played tennis, baseball, it was.

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It was 25 on 25.

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So I had a whole class out there
engaged in a game.

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Everyone's participating.

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Everyone's, playing.

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Yep. And, you're you're right.

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And like to the point
earlier grown up in Bellville,

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one of the things we played
bounce pitch baseball

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and you had to get to school early
in order to play.

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So we were at school early
to play balanced pitch and before we go to

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and then we played at recess.

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And that's it. The ball bounces.

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You bounce a tennis ball and you hit it
with a wiffle ball bat stuff with paper

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and and, taped up with duct tape. Yep.

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And we'd play that and we'd be rushing
to get there in school on time.

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So I adapted that.

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And so I can have more people
play at recess.

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I used to tennis racket because everyone,
even if you weren't that athletic

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or you didn't know how to hit a ball,
which is pretty challenging.

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Everyone got hit with a tennis racket.

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So that's how I got to play with tennis.

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Baseball, which is well known
around the town, I think.

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And, I'd have,
you know, 25 kids on each side.

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Everyone get up at least once or twice
during the recess.

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It was great.

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It's great.

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And, this is a popular question
I ask every podcast.

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Who's your favorite teacher?

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And you've you've come up a bunch of
times, PJ Foley's walking in Luna pizza.

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Yeah, yeah. His kid.
I was just with him yesterday.

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I just gave him the mic.
I said, who's your favorite teacher,

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miss?

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Not well yeah, yeah.

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Okay.

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PJ, I had,

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his son. Just a magnificent kid.

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Yeah. Magnificent.

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And who else?

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There was another time, too,
but now it's a great.

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So you're it's it's really cool
when you know,

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we can walk around and someone out there,
we impacted their life in a positive way.

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Like we are someone's favorite teacher.

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You know, it's.

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Look,
if you're looking to one of the secrets,

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not only to teach in to whatever you do,
you have to love what you do.

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Right.

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And one of the things I noticed about you,
as you have the same thing, you're there

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for the right reasons,
and that why it makes everything better.

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So and as a result, you know,
you have these magnificent relationships

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with with parents, with their children,
the kids, and now they're grown up.

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Students of mine
are having children of their own.

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So it's it's wonderful.

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Have you taught a parent
kid, a kids parent?

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Did you have the generation? Yes.
You know, it has that.

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That's the that's not going to happen.
That's not that many years.

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Yeah I got out I.

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Got out 25 and out
but 20 in West Hartford, 25 in San Diego.

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Amazing.

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No, I was just saying
I walked with my wife

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just the other day, and I was like,
you know, Teaching's getting harder.

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They're changing stuff.

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And right now I'm teaching foundations.

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It's a new reading program, but
it's like teaching an old dog a new trick.

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But it's new and it's helpful
and it's beneficial to everyone involved.

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But I was talking,
and all of a sudden it's like,

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see these two kids playing football?

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And I just clap
and I go like that. My kick.

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My wife's like, do you even know them?
They just throw me the ball.

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Of course
I knew them fifth graders from the school,

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so I throw the ball with them real quick.

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Then we go to Doro and I'm having,
you know, we're drinking coffee

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with the dog, and all of a sudden
the kids, like,

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my wife's, like, you might want to say hi,

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because I was a kid,
like stalking with the dad.

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And I was like, hey, hey.

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And they come over and talk.

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So it's it's a good feeling.

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Shout out, shout out to Dorian.

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Dorian's doing a wonderful job.
I was just adorable today.

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So one of my former students that I taught
is one of his baristas.

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Which one?

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Who's that? I'm there all. AJ. Okay.

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Yeah.

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I Scott Miller podcast guest
I had his son Simon,

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so I know Scott Dorian sort of

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same day I'm there I see Lana, my student

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and her her dad and then Dorian's like,
hey, you got to try this.

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Yeah.

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Brings it out the,
the new Dubai chocolate, pastry.

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Yeah. Phenomenal.

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Yeah. So now he's a master dude.

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So he's got the Midas touch.

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He creates a wonderful product,
atmosphere and.

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Community to.

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Open a new.

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Yeah. You know Cassie door the.
Have you been there?

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Yeah, I've been there. Yeah.

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I want to try her.

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I love what he's doing in West Hartford.

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It was very difficult for me
to leave West Hartford

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with all that
he and everyone else has going on in town.

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No. It's great.

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They're great.

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What about what?

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I got an email. Old email?

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We only emailed each other
once in the school.

247
00:10:44,543 --> 00:10:45,811
Email?

248
00:10:45,811 --> 00:10:49,348
What song did your student
sing on Wednesdays?

249
00:10:51,651 --> 00:10:54,654
Oh, God.

250
00:10:54,987 --> 00:10:57,990
I started each day with a different,

251
00:10:58,691 --> 00:11:01,694
American

252
00:11:02,528 --> 00:11:03,229
song.

253
00:11:03,229 --> 00:11:06,499
Him, one of them was challenging.

254
00:11:06,499 --> 00:11:08,034
One of them might have been American,
too. Beautiful.

255
00:11:08,034 --> 00:11:12,905
I changed some, and on Friday
we did the the,

256
00:11:14,340 --> 00:11:17,076
Yep. The preamble. Yep.

257
00:11:17,076 --> 00:11:20,079
Wednesday, the pledge.

258
00:11:20,379 --> 00:11:20,646
Thank you.

259
00:11:20,646 --> 00:11:22,882
My country, tis of thee. Did I do I don't.

260
00:11:22,882 --> 00:11:24,250
America. America.

261
00:11:24,250 --> 00:11:25,451
Okay, I said that's. All you do, right?

262
00:11:25,451 --> 00:11:28,054
Not my country tis of thee.

263
00:11:28,054 --> 00:11:29,889
Oh, you have. It, I printed it.

264
00:11:29,889 --> 00:11:32,158
I was so funny.
I was like, I remember him sending me.

265
00:11:32,158 --> 00:11:34,427
And then you're not in the
in the school system anymore.

266
00:11:34,427 --> 00:11:36,128
I was like, wondering, what?

267
00:11:36,128 --> 00:11:37,797
Will your email still be there? No.

268
00:11:37,797 --> 00:11:40,366
They took as a first doing it
when you when you retired.

269
00:11:40,366 --> 00:11:42,268
That's
one of the first things you take away.

270
00:11:42,268 --> 00:11:43,602
Email quick to. Yeah I heard.

271
00:11:44,970 --> 00:11:46,505
Very quickly

272
00:11:46,505 --> 00:11:49,341
I'm not sure why but that went away
very quickly.

273
00:11:49,341 --> 00:11:49,942
That kind of hurt.

274
00:11:49,942 --> 00:11:52,778
I don't know why that affected me,
but maybe because I had it for so long.

275
00:11:52,778 --> 00:11:56,148
Years of Google
Docs and albums and emails.

276
00:11:56,215 --> 00:11:58,451
Amazing. Yeah, I spent a lot of time.

277
00:11:58,451 --> 00:11:59,251
So no, it was great.

278
00:11:59,251 --> 00:12:01,320
I instituted this too.
I thought it was great.

279
00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:04,056
It's very patriotic.
It's something different and new.

280
00:12:04,056 --> 00:12:07,393
Both having military backgrounds
I thought is important.

281
00:12:07,927 --> 00:12:10,029
The pledge allegiance on Monday. Yeah.

282
00:12:10,029 --> 00:12:11,697
This land is your land on Tuesday.

283
00:12:11,697 --> 00:12:14,133
America Wednesday.
You're a grand Ole flag.

284
00:12:14,133 --> 00:12:15,101
Yeah, that's a banger.

285
00:12:15,101 --> 00:12:16,235
That's a classic. Yes.

286
00:12:16,235 --> 00:12:19,004
And the preamble. Preamble, which is.

287
00:12:19,004 --> 00:12:22,007
Halfway
halfway through, halfway through the year,

288
00:12:22,074 --> 00:12:24,477
students knew that by heart.

289
00:12:24,477 --> 00:12:26,145
Nice. Yeah.

290
00:12:26,145 --> 00:12:27,146
Oh. It's important.

291
00:12:27,146 --> 00:12:31,016
It it one if you're, 
I'm a brilliant in the basics guy.

292
00:12:31,350 --> 00:12:34,754
So you want to teach him
how to speak properly?

293
00:12:34,954 --> 00:12:35,488
Give them

294
00:12:36,655 --> 00:12:38,290
give them something like that.

295
00:12:38,290 --> 00:12:41,293
Make it consistent, make it meaningful.

296
00:12:41,460 --> 00:12:43,329
And it's something

297
00:12:43,329 --> 00:12:45,798
that I obviously believed in.

298
00:12:45,798 --> 00:12:47,399
And then we talk about vocabulary.

299
00:12:47,399 --> 00:12:51,070
You know, we talked about posterity there
and, you know, liberty and what it means.

300
00:12:51,070 --> 00:12:54,073
And and you just give them a sense of it
over and over again,

301
00:12:54,106 --> 00:12:56,442
give them a chance to internalize it.

302
00:12:56,442 --> 00:12:59,178
It's it's it's great.

303
00:12:59,178 --> 00:13:00,513
Now it's cool. Thanks for sharing that.

304
00:13:00,513 --> 00:13:03,315
I still have it. I still use it.

305
00:13:03,315 --> 00:13:05,217
You also have it, doctor?

306
00:13:05,217 --> 00:13:07,820
Doctorate in education
from the University of Hartford.

307
00:13:07,820 --> 00:13:08,821
Yeah.

308
00:13:08,821 --> 00:13:09,789
How is that? Yeah.

309
00:13:09,789 --> 00:13:12,792
That help you?

310
00:13:13,659 --> 00:13:14,960
So we moved.

311
00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:16,362
That's the reason I'm in West Hartford.

312
00:13:16,362 --> 00:13:18,364
Because I was accepted
to the University of Hartford.

313
00:13:18,364 --> 00:13:22,468
When I was out in San Diego, Chris and I
were getting married, moving back east.

314
00:13:23,102 --> 00:13:26,071
Got accepted to this place
called the University of Hartford.

315
00:13:27,139 --> 00:13:27,640
She comes

316
00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:30,643
out a couple of weeks
beforehand, looks for a house.

317
00:13:30,643 --> 00:13:34,547
Dropped my resume off at West Hartford
Public Schools, and starts looking around,

318
00:13:35,281 --> 00:13:38,551
looking around
Avon, Glastonbury, Bloomfield.

319
00:13:39,418 --> 00:13:43,856
And she asked a real estate agent
who we got from USAA military affiliated.

320
00:13:44,590 --> 00:13:45,991
She was like, well, what's this place?

321
00:13:45,991 --> 00:13:47,893
And she was like,
oh, this is West Hartford

322
00:13:47,893 --> 00:13:50,262
and University
of Hartford's in West Hartford.

323
00:13:50,262 --> 00:13:52,631
So she fell in love right away.

324
00:13:52,631 --> 00:13:55,634
And then we ended up moving here from,

325
00:13:56,468 --> 00:13:59,471
San Diego to go to the University
of Hartford.

326
00:14:00,105 --> 00:14:02,541
The reason for going to
the University of Hartford was

327
00:14:02,541 --> 00:14:05,544
that was my way of

328
00:14:06,312 --> 00:14:08,747
being in the top

329
00:14:08,747 --> 00:14:11,083
10% of my profession.

330
00:14:11,083 --> 00:14:13,652
I was like, if I were to be in the top 10%
of my profession,

331
00:14:13,652 --> 00:14:14,887
what would I have to do?

332
00:14:14,887 --> 00:14:18,290
One of the things would be to continue
to study and get a degree, and that was,

333
00:14:19,325 --> 00:14:20,426
it took time.

334
00:14:20,426 --> 00:14:23,195
You know, the
dissertation was a bit of a process, but,

335
00:14:23,195 --> 00:14:26,198
you know, learning to read
research is huge.

336
00:14:26,432 --> 00:14:29,068
You know,
you talk about foundations and typically,

337
00:14:29,068 --> 00:14:30,870
you know,
people are trying to tell you what to do.

338
00:14:30,870 --> 00:14:34,206
If you know how to read the research,
life becomes a whole lot different. So

339
00:14:35,241 --> 00:14:37,676
it was my way of,

340
00:14:37,676 --> 00:14:40,946
bettering myself within the profession.

341
00:14:42,047 --> 00:14:44,316
And then on the other side of that,
I mean, it's great.

342
00:14:44,316 --> 00:14:48,721
I mean, you, there is a level of respect,

343
00:14:48,721 --> 00:14:52,758
but personally, it's,

344
00:14:53,926 --> 00:14:57,062
I use my conceptual framework
for leadership to this day

345
00:14:58,063 --> 00:15:01,233
and, the ability to read, research and,

346
00:15:01,267 --> 00:15:04,270
and see through a lot of the fog

347
00:15:04,470 --> 00:15:07,473
has been a huge benefit to me.

348
00:15:07,806 --> 00:15:08,240
Nice.

349
00:15:09,241 --> 00:15:10,876
I was always wondering what brought you
here.

350
00:15:10,876 --> 00:15:13,445
So, University of Harvard.
University of Harvard. Yeah.

351
00:15:13,445 --> 00:15:15,147
I'm becoming more
and more involved with them.

352
00:15:15,147 --> 00:15:16,949
They just got a new president.

353
00:15:16,949 --> 00:15:19,718
Doctor Ward, he came from Babson.

354
00:15:19,718 --> 00:15:22,254
He's doing a lot of good things
at the University of Hartford.

355
00:15:22,254 --> 00:15:23,555
You know, Aaron Isaacs.

356
00:15:23,555 --> 00:15:24,657
I do, I do.

357
00:15:24,657 --> 00:15:26,492
He's the dean of students there. Yeah.

358
00:15:26,492 --> 00:15:29,128
He's a great dude. He he helps.

359
00:15:29,128 --> 00:15:32,731
He participated in some of the mentoring
I do in Hartford.

360
00:15:33,232 --> 00:15:33,766
Oh, nice.

361
00:15:33,766 --> 00:15:39,672
He funds one of the nonprofits
that I'm affiliated with that is,

362
00:15:39,738 --> 00:15:42,808
does good work with the Police
Athletic League in Hartford.

363
00:15:44,977 --> 00:15:45,544
I'm going to have him.

364
00:15:45,544 --> 00:15:47,012
I going to have him as a podcast guest.

365
00:15:47,012 --> 00:15:48,881
He he's he's got a lot going on.

366
00:15:48,881 --> 00:15:51,283
And, you know, he's. Cool
because he looks like hanging with Mr.

367
00:15:51,283 --> 00:15:52,985
Cooper. Yeah. Dude, he's big.

368
00:15:52,985 --> 00:15:54,153
He's a big dude.

369
00:15:54,153 --> 00:15:56,388
Yeah, I mean big.

370
00:15:56,388 --> 00:15:58,457
I worked at Goodwin with, Goodwin College.

371
00:15:58,457 --> 00:16:00,492
Yeah, he's a great guy. Yeah,
we played on the Goodwin.

372
00:16:00,492 --> 00:16:03,495
We played a alumni versus kids
basketball game.

373
00:16:03,696 --> 00:16:06,098
Okay.
Pretty serious. Yeah, he's a big guy.

374
00:16:07,466 --> 00:16:08,233
No. He's great.

375
00:16:08,233 --> 00:16:11,236
He's great person. I love that dude. Coop.

376
00:16:11,236 --> 00:16:11,570
Aaron.

377
00:16:11,570 --> 00:16:14,573
Isaac's on a do you work with Jimmy?

378
00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:16,742
Detective Jimmy Barrett?

379
00:16:16,742 --> 00:16:20,045
He works with homeless, 
helping people with homelessness.

380
00:16:20,045 --> 00:16:23,048
He's a up Hartford police.

381
00:16:23,248 --> 00:16:24,316
Hartford police officer.

382
00:16:24,316 --> 00:16:26,485
No, he doesn't ring a bell.

383
00:16:26,485 --> 00:16:29,121
Steve Austin, what's the nonprofit? The.

384
00:16:29,121 --> 00:16:30,422
Aaron. It's.

385
00:16:30,422 --> 00:16:33,025
Well, it was it's it's

386
00:16:33,025 --> 00:16:35,527
actually the nonprofit is the Police
Athletic League.

387
00:16:35,527 --> 00:16:37,696
Gotcha. But we're housed within them.

388
00:16:37,696 --> 00:16:41,433
So we are fed students, boys

389
00:16:41,934 --> 00:16:46,805
from the Police Athletic League,
and we mentor them within their house.

390
00:16:46,805 --> 00:16:48,540
They give us space, they're nice.

391
00:16:48,540 --> 00:16:50,376
So we meet weekly.

392
00:16:50,376 --> 00:16:54,146
And, Because I see that
you also do work with Covenant Prep.

393
00:16:54,413 --> 00:16:57,049
Covenant Prep's a big deal,
a great nonprofit. Yeah.

394
00:16:57,049 --> 00:16:58,817
You just recently spoke to them.

395
00:16:58,817 --> 00:16:59,184
Yeah.

396
00:16:59,184 --> 00:17:01,553
Governor prep was, that was Jeff

397
00:17:01,553 --> 00:17:05,824
Deagle, that first class of students
that Anthony you mentioned.

398
00:17:05,891 --> 00:17:07,960
Yep. Was bendigo's in their class.

399
00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:09,261
So I met Jeff Diggle,

400
00:17:10,362 --> 00:17:12,965
as the parent,

401
00:17:12,965 --> 00:17:15,968
and then he he's
the one that was his brainchild.

402
00:17:16,468 --> 00:17:19,471
So I was affiliated with that
when he first started it.

403
00:17:19,471 --> 00:17:20,939
Oh, wow.

404
00:17:20,939 --> 00:17:21,540
And I.

405
00:17:21,540 --> 00:17:23,776
Got because that's, ten years now
or 15 or like.

406
00:17:23,776 --> 00:17:25,577
14 years I got.

407
00:17:25,577 --> 00:17:26,945
I just went to the bow tie. Oh, yeah.

408
00:17:26,945 --> 00:17:27,813
We were together. There.

409
00:17:27,813 --> 00:17:30,816
Yeah. Bow
ties and baseballs and yard goats.

410
00:17:31,350 --> 00:17:34,253
So that that they have a great thing
going on is

411
00:17:34,253 --> 00:17:39,291
his idea is to get middle school kids,
get him in the right direction.

412
00:17:39,625 --> 00:17:44,096
So we talked about reflection,
the power of reflection as eighth graders

413
00:17:44,096 --> 00:17:47,099
because those kids are going to wonderful
schools Taft,

414
00:17:47,332 --> 00:17:50,335
Loomis, Xavier,

415
00:17:51,336 --> 00:17:56,475
Avon, all farms and they're going
to be exposed to some incredible stuff.

416
00:17:56,475 --> 00:17:57,509
You can be overwhelmed.

417
00:17:57,509 --> 00:18:01,580
So the essence of that conversation was a
what went

418
00:18:01,580 --> 00:18:03,582
well for you here at Covenant Prep.

419
00:18:03,582 --> 00:18:06,585
And if you were to do it all over again,
what would you do differently?

420
00:18:06,819 --> 00:18:08,353
And then let's let's

421
00:18:10,022 --> 00:18:11,023
conceptualize that.

422
00:18:11,023 --> 00:18:12,391
Let's think about it and see.

423
00:18:12,391 --> 00:18:13,792
All right.
What kind of person would you be?

424
00:18:13,792 --> 00:18:14,059
All right.

425
00:18:14,059 --> 00:18:17,162
Now bring that person to these schools

426
00:18:17,162 --> 00:18:20,132
and these wonderful opportunities
because, there's a lot of them.

427
00:18:20,365 --> 00:18:22,768
I know I saw you, I saw a couple pictures.

428
00:18:22,768 --> 00:18:26,238
You're like, standing up,
you know, doing your doing your spiel.

429
00:18:26,371 --> 00:18:27,339
Yeah. And I want to.

430
00:18:27,339 --> 00:18:30,008
I want to thank you
in saying compliment you.

431
00:18:30,008 --> 00:18:31,877
Wonderful public speaker.

432
00:18:31,877 --> 00:18:35,547
Recently last year,
I don't know, you know, where I'm

433
00:18:35,547 --> 00:18:39,118
going with this, but my daughter got Ball
State rifle, right?

434
00:18:39,318 --> 00:18:43,122
So they had a all state dinner
at Orange Country Club.

435
00:18:43,789 --> 00:18:45,991
I think it's Grassy Hill
Country Club in Orange. Yeah.

436
00:18:45,991 --> 00:18:47,626
And they needed a military.

437
00:18:47,626 --> 00:18:50,129
They were
they were hoping for our military speaker

438
00:18:50,129 --> 00:18:53,232
I say I got a guy
and, Rick Wells showed up

439
00:18:53,232 --> 00:18:56,735
and you exceeded expectations
and you were phenomenal.

440
00:18:56,735 --> 00:18:58,170
So I was inspired.

441
00:18:58,170 --> 00:18:59,905
I know the kids were inspired.

442
00:18:59,905 --> 00:19:02,541
You you had a little show and tell.

443
00:19:02,541 --> 00:19:04,243
You gave a little book recommendation.

444
00:19:04,243 --> 00:19:06,111
You did a golf swing? Yeah.

445
00:19:06,111 --> 00:19:06,512
You asked.

446
00:19:06,512 --> 00:19:08,981
The kids went,
when's your school day start?

447
00:19:08,981 --> 00:19:10,649
That was the best.
When your school day start.

448
00:19:10,649 --> 00:19:13,152
That was one of my favorite lessons
in class two.

449
00:19:13,152 --> 00:19:14,853
Yeah, I did it every year. Yeah.

450
00:19:14,853 --> 00:19:17,556
And when is your school day start and got.

451
00:19:17,556 --> 00:19:19,858
And it was funny with with those kids.

452
00:19:19,858 --> 00:19:22,861
They're very bright kids
which, which which is interesting.

453
00:19:23,662 --> 00:19:27,633
Top top notch disciplined obviously.

454
00:19:27,666 --> 00:19:28,100
Right.

455
00:19:28,100 --> 00:19:31,937
They they spend their time,
they give their attention to

456
00:19:31,937 --> 00:19:34,506
what they think is worthwhile.
It takes them places.

457
00:19:34,506 --> 00:19:34,773
There was

458
00:19:34,773 --> 00:19:37,242
one kid going to the Naval Academy
for shooting or something like that.

459
00:19:37,242 --> 00:19:39,344
Yeah. It's amazing.

460
00:19:39,344 --> 00:19:41,180
But I said, what
time is your school day begin?

461
00:19:42,281 --> 00:19:44,950
7 or 808

462
00:19:44,950 --> 00:19:48,253
3825 827 then the parents started
jumping it. Yup.

463
00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:50,522
820 oh, so they were getting mad.

464
00:19:50,522 --> 00:19:52,124
We're like, what's the answer?

465
00:19:52,124 --> 00:19:53,091
I was like, no, it's like that.

466
00:19:53,091 --> 00:19:56,428
Your school day begins
the night before it begins the night

467
00:19:56,428 --> 00:19:59,431
before when you put your homework
in your backpack,

468
00:19:59,598 --> 00:20:03,368
you pack your snack,
you lay your clothes out

469
00:20:03,869 --> 00:20:07,606
so that you wake up
and you know exactly what's going on,

470
00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:12,377
and you're not running around the house
trying to get your stuff together,

471
00:20:12,544 --> 00:20:16,682
because that affects
that has an influence on your attitude

472
00:20:17,182 --> 00:20:18,517
when you come to school.

473
00:20:18,517 --> 00:20:21,520
Yeah. Even if it happens at home.

474
00:20:21,587 --> 00:20:23,655
So we talked about that every year.

475
00:20:23,655 --> 00:20:25,457
That was one of my favorite lessons.

476
00:20:25,457 --> 00:20:28,227
So it was a great opportunity
to to do that lesson again.

477
00:20:28,227 --> 00:20:31,296
There was kids
I love dealing with young people.

478
00:20:31,330 --> 00:20:34,900
Right.
And they were top notch individuals.

479
00:20:34,900 --> 00:20:38,804
And that was that was a blessing
to spend that time with them.

480
00:20:38,804 --> 00:20:40,305
So yeah, I appreciate that opportunity.

481
00:20:40,305 --> 00:20:40,872
Yeah. You marine.

482
00:20:40,872 --> 00:20:43,342
Uniform still fit to. Fit. Yeah.

483
00:20:43,342 --> 00:20:45,010
What, 25 years later?

484
00:20:45,010 --> 00:20:49,414
Yeah I, I, I, I went in 90 in 1992

485
00:20:50,882 --> 00:20:53,619
and I retired in 2015.

486
00:20:53,619 --> 00:20:57,155
So with five years active duty
and 16 reserves,

487
00:20:57,155 --> 00:21:01,026
a couple holes in there for some,

488
00:21:01,627 --> 00:21:04,162
some interesting reasons, some not,

489
00:21:04,162 --> 00:21:07,566
but at at in 2015 it was 21 years.

490
00:21:07,566 --> 00:21:10,569
So the goal was 20. Yeah.

491
00:21:10,602 --> 00:21:11,670
At 19 years.

492
00:21:11,670 --> 00:21:14,940
I started working for two colonels
that I love.

493
00:21:14,940 --> 00:21:16,174
They're benefactors of mine.

494
00:21:16,174 --> 00:21:19,645
They influenced me
and they they rounded out

495
00:21:19,645 --> 00:21:23,982
and taught me about leadership
in a pretty inspirational way.

496
00:21:24,416 --> 00:21:27,286
But I when he took over, it was year 19.

497
00:21:27,286 --> 00:21:29,721
So commands are two years.

498
00:21:29,721 --> 00:21:31,923
So I did the two.

499
00:21:31,923 --> 00:21:34,393
He was gracious enough to ask me to
to be his.

500
00:21:34,393 --> 00:21:37,996
I was a logistics officer,
be his, logistics officer

501
00:21:37,996 --> 00:21:41,600
for his final year as as his command.

502
00:21:42,601 --> 00:21:44,403
So that's what took me to 21 years.

503
00:21:44,403 --> 00:21:45,304
And then.

504
00:21:45,304 --> 00:21:48,307
Man. And I did eight years in the Army
National Guard.

505
00:21:48,373 --> 00:21:50,542
Yeah. Army field medic.

506
00:21:50,542 --> 00:21:52,344
Wow. That was I was give it.

507
00:21:52,344 --> 00:21:54,212
I've shot.

508
00:21:54,212 --> 00:21:55,947
That's. Dude, that's so magical.

509
00:21:55,947 --> 00:21:56,848
It's. No, it's great.

510
00:21:56,848 --> 00:21:59,785
EMT certified, national certified.
I could have been an EMT. Yeah.

511
00:22:01,086 --> 00:22:02,487
Wishing eight years.

512
00:22:02,487 --> 00:22:05,190
Eight years, said reflection.
I wish I stayed in so.

513
00:22:05,190 --> 00:22:08,193
And that's right. There is how I taught.

514
00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:11,630
So that was
what the the reflection is this

515
00:22:12,931 --> 00:22:15,901
what went well
and what would I do differently.

516
00:22:16,535 --> 00:22:19,137
So as a grade school kid,

517
00:22:19,137 --> 00:22:22,140
I went through that same process and

518
00:22:22,474 --> 00:22:26,411
my idea after that was
if I'd be a scholar athlete.

519
00:22:27,112 --> 00:22:29,381
So, you know, my uniform still fits.

520
00:22:29,381 --> 00:22:32,951
So I became more of an athlete
and I became more of a scholar

521
00:22:32,951 --> 00:22:35,954
where I read the books
and did all the things,

522
00:22:36,121 --> 00:22:37,789
and I looked

523
00:22:37,789 --> 00:22:41,193
at each parent child in my classroom
the same way.

524
00:22:41,727 --> 00:22:44,296
I'm going to teach scholar athlete,
you're going to be a scholar athlete.

525
00:22:44,296 --> 00:22:46,798
This is what my expectation is of you.

526
00:22:46,798 --> 00:22:50,402
So it was very clear in
that way, in that reflection.

527
00:22:51,403 --> 00:22:53,372
But I did the same

528
00:22:53,372 --> 00:22:56,975
exercise when I was eight years in,
just like you.

529
00:22:56,975 --> 00:22:59,978
And we're moving
from San Diego to Connecticut.

530
00:23:00,412 --> 00:23:03,415
And I said, I'm going to do this thing.

531
00:23:03,515 --> 00:23:06,985
I, I wanted to take advantage of it.

532
00:23:07,352 --> 00:23:08,787
I knew it was a gift.

533
00:23:08,787 --> 00:23:10,355
You know, I

534
00:23:10,355 --> 00:23:14,359
my first four years in the Marine Corps,
he knows it's great,

535
00:23:15,026 --> 00:23:17,396
but I would have did some things
differently.

536
00:23:17,396 --> 00:23:18,630
So I reflected on that.

537
00:23:18,630 --> 00:23:22,367
Even my first four years
in the reserves at my LA unit.

538
00:23:23,268 --> 00:23:28,874
So I said I took the opportunity
to think how you're thinking right now.

539
00:23:28,874 --> 00:23:30,776
And I'm like, yeah, I'm going to finish.

540
00:23:30,776 --> 00:23:34,446
I'm going to stay, and I'm not going to
say I wish, oh, I wish I stayed in.

541
00:23:34,846 --> 00:23:37,449
And, I was going to the challenges.

542
00:23:37,449 --> 00:23:42,387
You got to do the things
that need to be done in order to stay in.

543
00:23:42,387 --> 00:23:45,624
So shout out to West Hartford Schools
for supporting me and

544
00:23:45,957 --> 00:23:48,126
and being there for me
and the parents as well,

545
00:23:48,126 --> 00:23:51,863
because there were a lot of times
that I was not in the classroom.

546
00:23:51,863 --> 00:23:55,667
I was off doing my training and,

547
00:23:56,701 --> 00:23:57,769
I'm dude, I'm so

548
00:23:57,769 --> 00:24:00,906
grateful for that because, you know,
you don't do it alone.

549
00:24:00,906 --> 00:24:03,442
And that support was everything to me.

550
00:24:03,442 --> 00:24:06,278
I did it as a student, teacher
and an intern, so

551
00:24:06,278 --> 00:24:09,381
I got to miss the last two weeks of school
for the two week annual training.

552
00:24:09,848 --> 00:24:14,286
And then it was like either
become a teacher or a re-up or something.

553
00:24:14,286 --> 00:24:17,322
I don't know what happened,
but yeah, I chose like my career.

554
00:24:18,256 --> 00:24:20,692
But again, so happy that I went.

555
00:24:20,692 --> 00:24:23,228
I would not have been able
to afford college.

556
00:24:23,228 --> 00:24:26,965
I have first time ever flying in
a plane was on my way to basic training

557
00:24:26,965 --> 00:24:29,100
Fort lost in the woods, Missouri.

558
00:24:29,100 --> 00:24:32,704
And then next, you know, fast forward
a couple months, my training drills.

559
00:24:32,704 --> 00:24:35,006
I was a flight medic on a helicopter.
Yeah.

560
00:24:35,006 --> 00:24:37,509
So I went from never flying
to flying once a week.

561
00:24:37,509 --> 00:24:38,076
Once a month.

562
00:24:39,244 --> 00:24:40,512
Put my hand out of the helicopter.

563
00:24:40,512 --> 00:24:42,914
You ever put your hand out of a car
window?

564
00:24:42,914 --> 00:24:44,683
Yeah. No. Try that in a helicopter.

565
00:24:44,683 --> 00:24:48,887
I fast roped out of a helicopter,
rappelled out of a few.

566
00:24:49,654 --> 00:24:51,523
Yeah. It's amazing. Dude. Yeah.

567
00:24:51,523 --> 00:24:54,893
How did the Marine Corps
help your education?

568
00:24:54,993 --> 00:24:57,696
I mean, obviously, rules,
structure, routine.

569
00:24:57,696 --> 00:25:01,266
Marine Corps for me,
the huge lesson for me was attitude.

570
00:25:01,666 --> 00:25:02,167
Attitude.

571
00:25:02,167 --> 00:25:05,170
My attitude was,

572
00:25:05,537 --> 00:25:08,773
that was one of the main reasons
why I didn't take advantage

573
00:25:08,773 --> 00:25:13,211
of all of those things that are provided
for you from family in the Marine Corps.

574
00:25:13,512 --> 00:25:17,282
If you have a bad attitude,
your attitude is your personal strategy.

575
00:25:17,282 --> 00:25:18,450
It's your approach to life.

576
00:25:18,450 --> 00:25:21,453
It's your approach
to work, to your approach to family.

577
00:25:22,020 --> 00:25:24,155
So, the Marine Corps

578
00:25:24,155 --> 00:25:27,325
basically said, we're not
we're not crazy about your attitude.

579
00:25:27,526 --> 00:25:30,529
So I had to fix it. Yeah.
And very quickly.

580
00:25:30,529 --> 00:25:31,263
Yeah.

581
00:25:31,263 --> 00:25:34,232
No, I had some learning lessons there too,
with the attitude or the.

582
00:25:35,267 --> 00:25:36,234
They, they

583
00:25:36,234 --> 00:25:39,237
not only wanted you to
to to swab the deck,

584
00:25:40,238 --> 00:25:44,342
several times
when you're looking for liberty,

585
00:25:44,509 --> 00:25:47,512
they want you to whistle
while you're doing it.

586
00:25:48,046 --> 00:25:48,380
Yeah.

587
00:25:48,380 --> 00:25:50,215
I was like, okay.

588
00:25:50,215 --> 00:25:53,218
And I eventually learn, and that helped me

589
00:25:53,218 --> 00:25:56,221
a great deal.

590
00:25:57,422 --> 00:25:58,590
You know, good leaders,

591
00:25:58,590 --> 00:26:02,961
good dudes that I met in there
and just wanting to be a part of that.

592
00:26:03,295 --> 00:26:07,098
And in order
for me to be a part of that and and engage

593
00:26:07,098 --> 00:26:11,169
in that glorious institution,
I had to change.

594
00:26:11,169 --> 00:26:12,337
I had to adapt.

595
00:26:12,337 --> 00:26:14,773
I had to examine myself,

596
00:26:14,773 --> 00:26:16,741
because I wanted to be a part of that.

597
00:26:16,741 --> 00:26:18,410
They didn't want to be a part of me.

598
00:26:18,410 --> 00:26:20,111
I wanted to be a part of that.

599
00:26:20,111 --> 00:26:23,348
And, that was
that's the one of the big lessons.

600
00:26:23,348 --> 00:26:24,783
What teacher in the Marines are.

601
00:26:24,783 --> 00:26:29,454
Instructor started every class
with a, Medal of honor recipient.

602
00:26:29,854 --> 00:26:32,624
He was a captain. It was at TBS.

603
00:26:32,624 --> 00:26:35,894
So in Marine Corps for officers,
you go to Quantico

604
00:26:36,061 --> 00:26:39,397
and you go to Officer
Candidate School, Oak.

605
00:26:41,766 --> 00:26:44,502
Officer Candidate School in Quantico.

606
00:26:44,502 --> 00:26:46,871
And then you do that for

607
00:26:46,871 --> 00:26:49,874
if you if you went through,
like me, 13 weeks or so and then,

608
00:26:50,775 --> 00:26:53,511
you go on the other side of the base
to the basic school.

609
00:26:53,511 --> 00:26:55,013
The basic school is six months long.

610
00:26:55,013 --> 00:26:56,414
Is this 13 weeks straight or.

611
00:26:56,414 --> 00:26:56,982
Yeah, that's three.

612
00:26:56,982 --> 00:26:59,818
Weekends because,
you know, 13 weeks straight there.

613
00:26:59,818 --> 00:27:00,885
Yes. Are oak.

614
00:27:00,885 --> 00:27:01,519
Oaks.

615
00:27:01,519 --> 00:27:04,389
Well, oaks
and the army. Oaks is what you go through.

616
00:27:04,389 --> 00:27:05,924
Oak is how I went through.

617
00:27:05,924 --> 00:27:08,927
You go through oak or you can go to ROTC.

618
00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:10,562
Gotcha. Oak.

619
00:27:10,562 --> 00:27:13,732
Is that 13 weeks? Gotcha ROTC six weeks.

620
00:27:13,732 --> 00:27:15,233
Six weeks.

621
00:27:15,233 --> 00:27:18,269
And then we go to TBS, the basic school
on the other side of Quantico.

622
00:27:19,170 --> 00:27:21,973
Six months, two weeks in a field,
two weeks in a classroom.

623
00:27:21,973 --> 00:27:23,608
Bang, bang, bang. Like that.

624
00:27:28,913 --> 00:27:29,948
So what was the question?

625
00:27:29,948 --> 00:27:32,117
I forgot the question. Settled on.

626
00:27:32,117 --> 00:27:33,318
A medal of honor.

627
00:27:33,318 --> 00:27:36,054
One of the one at that.
So I came in in 92.

628
00:27:36,054 --> 00:27:37,355
That was after the first Gulf War.

629
00:27:37,355 --> 00:27:40,358
So all of those captains
had been over there.

630
00:27:41,192 --> 00:27:44,629
Very inspiring folks
that taught the classes.

631
00:27:44,763 --> 00:27:48,967
And, one of the one of the captains there

632
00:27:48,967 --> 00:27:53,705
started every one of his classes
would a medal of honor winning.

633
00:27:54,572 --> 00:27:59,878
And, you know, we and I remember always
listening to see because he would end it.

634
00:28:00,345 --> 00:28:05,016
Either he lived
or it was posthumously given.

635
00:28:05,016 --> 00:28:05,784
Yeah.

636
00:28:05,784 --> 00:28:09,854
And, there's some look, there's
some incredible human beings out there.

637
00:28:09,954 --> 00:28:10,922
Yeah.

638
00:28:10,922 --> 00:28:13,458
I had a podcast guest
that I'm bringing that up.

639
00:28:13,458 --> 00:28:18,129
My, podcast guest, number 43,
it's Paul Buca.

640
00:28:18,863 --> 00:28:20,265
Oh, he just passed.

641
00:28:20,265 --> 00:28:22,200
He just passed away. Yeah.

642
00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:23,935
His, West Hartford connections.

643
00:28:23,935 --> 00:28:26,071
I taught his granddaughter
and his grandson.

644
00:28:26,071 --> 00:28:29,307
Yeah, he was special. He was, he was a

645
00:28:30,275 --> 00:28:33,278
a guest speaker
at one of our convocations at school.

646
00:28:33,278 --> 00:28:35,246
You might have still been there.
I might have been there.

647
00:28:35,246 --> 00:28:39,284
I saw him speak at Asylum Hill
Congregational Church.

648
00:28:39,918 --> 00:28:42,320
We did it. We did a Veterans Day.

649
00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:44,956
It was either a Veterans Day ceremony or

650
00:28:44,956 --> 00:28:48,426
I went to see him speak about it.

651
00:28:48,426 --> 00:28:49,894
But he's a.

652
00:28:49,894 --> 00:28:50,595
No. He's great.

653
00:28:50,595 --> 00:28:55,900
He saved, like, 17 soldiers. He.

654
00:28:55,900 --> 00:28:59,204
He heard gunfire, ran down
without his helmet, saved them all.

655
00:28:59,738 --> 00:29:02,807
He had, like, a platoon of, like,
riffraff.

656
00:29:02,807 --> 00:29:04,275
Misfits. Yeah.

657
00:29:04,275 --> 00:29:05,276
And it's a wonderful story.

658
00:29:05,276 --> 00:29:07,812
So I was wondering, maybe you heard that
story, but it's a great story.

659
00:29:07,812 --> 00:29:08,346
And then.

660
00:29:08,346 --> 00:29:10,682
And let him put on the Medal of Honor.

661
00:29:10,682 --> 00:29:13,184
Oh, no way. Look at that.

662
00:29:13,184 --> 00:29:14,219
I snuck in.

663
00:29:14,219 --> 00:29:16,454
This is at the West Point pool.

664
00:29:16,454 --> 00:29:18,123
He was also an All-American swimmer.

665
00:29:19,057 --> 00:29:20,959
He worked on the Obama's,

666
00:29:20,959 --> 00:29:24,696
state of, like, affairs.

667
00:29:24,696 --> 00:29:26,097
Yeah. Veterans.

668
00:29:26,097 --> 00:29:30,735
But I was like, hey, you know,
I told the guy at the front, I'm like,

669
00:29:30,735 --> 00:29:33,838
that's my grandfather,
my great grandfather's best friend.

670
00:29:35,006 --> 00:29:35,907
It was.

671
00:29:35,907 --> 00:29:38,376
Yeah, a little fib,
you know, it was my students

672
00:29:38,376 --> 00:29:41,312
and my grandfather, but
it was very important that I got there.

673
00:29:41,312 --> 00:29:44,582
So, he's an All-American swimmer.

674
00:29:44,816 --> 00:29:49,487
So honored,
that I got to speak with him, you know?

675
00:29:49,487 --> 00:29:50,789
And, you brought that up.

676
00:29:50,789 --> 00:29:53,925
So, pop, you guys have wanted to
share this for a while because he did pass

677
00:29:54,692 --> 00:29:57,095
in August. August 15th. Yeah.

678
00:29:57,095 --> 00:30:00,098
So I had someone printed this out for me.

679
00:30:00,198 --> 00:30:02,400
But I got to sit down and hear his story.

680
00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:03,334
He's a wonderful speaker.

681
00:30:03,334 --> 00:30:05,436
I just, he had, you know,

682
00:30:06,471 --> 00:30:07,906
acronyms for,

683
00:30:07,906 --> 00:30:11,209
like, how to have
you have a routine for your life.

684
00:30:11,209 --> 00:30:14,112
And just so it helps and.

685
00:30:14,112 --> 00:30:16,014
Helps with discipline, definitely.

686
00:30:16,014 --> 00:30:21,252
Paul Buca, so I'm honored to spoke
with I'm honored to share this episode 43.

687
00:30:21,252 --> 00:30:24,122
If you want to go back and check it out.
Yeah.

688
00:30:24,122 --> 00:30:28,092
You know, folks, it's folks
think it's difficult

689
00:30:28,092 --> 00:30:31,095
to stay optimistic nowadays.

690
00:30:31,863 --> 00:30:35,834
It's not it's not difficult for me
because you you run into people like that.

691
00:30:36,334 --> 00:30:41,673
You deal with the young people
I deal with in in schools, and you see the

692
00:30:42,540 --> 00:30:45,844
I often see people who are going
into the military, for example.

693
00:30:46,511 --> 00:30:48,012
And, it's the faith.

694
00:30:48,012 --> 00:30:52,817
It's the same dedication and commitment
that's always been in this country.

695
00:30:53,551 --> 00:30:56,521
So I stay optimistic.

696
00:30:56,521 --> 00:30:58,022
Yeah.

697
00:30:58,022 --> 00:31:02,594
No, like you said, one of my daughter's
friends went to West Point last year.

698
00:31:02,627 --> 00:31:05,630
This year, one of her friends
going to the Air Force Academy

699
00:31:05,730 --> 00:31:08,333
until I'm like, Neela, come on,
you should go to West Point.

700
00:31:08,333 --> 00:31:10,034
She goes, dad,
I don't like waking up early.

701
00:31:10,034 --> 00:31:11,469
Yeah, I don't like running.

702
00:31:11,469 --> 00:31:12,871
I don't like getting yelled at.

703
00:31:12,871 --> 00:31:15,673
I go, well, then
maybe that's not the place for you, right?

704
00:31:15,673 --> 00:31:18,810
No, it it's it's it's it's another life.

705
00:31:19,143 --> 00:31:20,778
Yeah. One of the,

706
00:31:22,347 --> 00:31:23,915
guys I serve with Mark,

707
00:31:23,915 --> 00:31:28,086
his son, Richie
Trent George swam for the Naval Academy.

708
00:31:28,319 --> 00:31:31,322
I went to his graduation last year

709
00:31:31,823 --> 00:31:32,824
and it's.

710
00:31:32,824 --> 00:31:34,792
It's a special place.

711
00:31:34,792 --> 00:31:36,060
It's a special place.

712
00:31:36,060 --> 00:31:39,030
And, It's an elite exclusive. Club.

713
00:31:39,030 --> 00:31:41,799
Yes. Special. Yeah. And you you
you earn it.

714
00:31:41,799 --> 00:31:45,536
And, you know, being,
you know, seeing him with his team, the

715
00:31:46,070 --> 00:31:48,039
the the individuals that it's.

716
00:31:48,039 --> 00:31:50,742
Yeah. Those are that's America to me
right there. Yeah.

717
00:31:50,742 --> 00:31:52,443
That bond will last forever.

718
00:31:52,443 --> 00:31:53,344
Unbelievable.

719
00:31:53,344 --> 00:31:55,680
And the West Point is beautiful.

720
00:31:55,680 --> 00:31:59,317
She does rivalry like once twice
a year there.

721
00:31:59,317 --> 00:31:59,751
Yeah.

722
00:31:59,751 --> 00:32:01,786
And I like park and I jog.

723
00:32:01,786 --> 00:32:03,588
I get the headphones, I try to fit in.

724
00:32:03,588 --> 00:32:04,856
That's so good. No.

725
00:32:04,856 --> 00:32:06,658
I want to be like. I want to feel it.

726
00:32:06,658 --> 00:32:08,126
Get the little sweat on it. Yeah.

727
00:32:08,126 --> 00:32:11,496
When I see the guy,
the soldiers are doing it, I'm like,

728
00:32:11,562 --> 00:32:14,565
What's your little reflective
belt on right?

729
00:32:14,565 --> 00:32:16,935
Yeah. Run against traffic.

730
00:32:16,935 --> 00:32:17,435
That's great.

731
00:32:17,435 --> 00:32:18,102
So cool.

732
00:32:18,102 --> 00:32:22,440
It's great to it's
great to have that in your background.

733
00:32:22,774 --> 00:32:23,574
So you know.

734
00:32:26,044 --> 00:32:27,712
You know, to to the, to your point,

735
00:32:27,712 --> 00:32:31,616
I don't want to jump over it
about, you know, not doing certain things.

736
00:32:32,216 --> 00:32:33,952
I think that's the reason
I became a teacher.

737
00:32:33,952 --> 00:32:38,022
It's the reason I went into the service
is reason I finish the service.

738
00:32:39,090 --> 00:32:40,825
And,

739
00:32:40,825 --> 00:32:42,860
you look at this. Life is a gift.

740
00:32:42,860 --> 00:32:45,797
And you see what out there,
you see what work is difficult.

741
00:32:45,797 --> 00:32:47,131
And it's going to offer you a challenge.

742
00:32:47,131 --> 00:32:49,334
And it's hard and you love it.

743
00:32:49,334 --> 00:32:52,203
You go after it and you do it well.

744
00:32:52,203 --> 00:32:53,671
You finish well.

745
00:32:53,671 --> 00:32:55,373
What would it look like for me to finish?

746
00:32:55,373 --> 00:32:57,075
Well.

747
00:32:57,075 --> 00:33:00,712
And, 
it's it's something that I can reflect on

748
00:33:00,712 --> 00:33:05,249
and reminisce
and appreciate for, for a lifetime.

749
00:33:05,249 --> 00:33:06,451
Yeah.

750
00:33:06,451 --> 00:33:09,420
Now, you I mean, so far,
you lived a great life.

751
00:33:09,420 --> 00:33:12,623
You have such great experiences
with the education

752
00:33:12,957 --> 00:33:15,793
and the military and now present day.

753
00:33:15,793 --> 00:33:17,161
What are you up to?

754
00:33:17,161 --> 00:33:19,230
I'm a financial advisor in West Hartford.

755
00:33:19,230 --> 00:33:19,630
Very nice.

756
00:33:19,630 --> 00:33:23,134
So I'm a financial advisor with Baystate
Financial right in the middle of town,

757
00:33:23,868 --> 00:33:27,939
offices across the street from Brickell,
a spectacular.

758
00:33:27,939 --> 00:33:29,207
Can't beat that.

759
00:33:29,207 --> 00:33:34,112
And it's, you know, thinking about this
and talking with, this mastermind group

760
00:33:34,112 --> 00:33:38,049
we have going on, it's just a continuation
of the calling, right?

761
00:33:38,282 --> 00:33:39,517
Continuation of the calling

762
00:33:39,517 --> 00:33:42,520
from service to the country,
the service to the community.

763
00:33:43,054 --> 00:33:46,057
And now I am able to provide,

764
00:33:46,190 --> 00:33:50,161
service to the, you know, to
the young families in West Hartford and,

765
00:33:51,229 --> 00:33:52,263
and beyond,

766
00:33:52,263 --> 00:33:55,800
you know, getting
their financial readiness together.

767
00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:58,870
And, you know, putting it together,

768
00:33:58,870 --> 00:34:02,807
put it put in a plan together
using all of the, the, the,

769
00:34:03,074 --> 00:34:06,077
the insights and skills from being

770
00:34:06,811 --> 00:34:09,814
an officer in the Marine Corps
and a school teacher and

771
00:34:10,548 --> 00:34:14,185
thinking about legacy with people's
children and stuff like that is fantastic.

772
00:34:14,185 --> 00:34:16,854
It was a great it's a great transition.
Yeah.

773
00:34:16,854 --> 00:34:19,690
Now, did
you know you were going to do that?

774
00:34:19,690 --> 00:34:20,658
When did that come?

775
00:34:20,658 --> 00:34:23,728
Did you leave school knowing that you were
going to do that or did you leave school

776
00:34:23,728 --> 00:34:27,765
look to see what you were going to do,
or is that on your radar. From

777
00:34:28,199 --> 00:34:32,370
one, might I and I'll call it I call it
my transformation and transition.

778
00:34:33,404 --> 00:34:35,740
I had three goals.

779
00:34:35,740 --> 00:34:38,443
One was to be a part of a large firm.

780
00:34:39,544 --> 00:34:40,445
The other was to be

781
00:34:40,445 --> 00:34:43,448
flexible because you know what school
teacher, school

782
00:34:44,382 --> 00:34:46,951
schedules
like in the military schedules like.

783
00:34:46,951 --> 00:34:49,921
And I wanted to explore
this thing called compensation.

784
00:34:50,321 --> 00:34:51,722
I was like, all right, let's do it.

785
00:34:51,722 --> 00:34:54,692
And I was heading in the direction,

786
00:34:56,427 --> 00:34:58,463
of one of a large

787
00:34:58,463 --> 00:35:01,466
one of the four large consulting groups,

788
00:35:01,699 --> 00:35:02,867
Pricewaterhouse.

789
00:35:02,867 --> 00:35:05,870
And that was and the opportunity to,

790
00:35:05,903 --> 00:35:10,074
to get into the financial services
industry opened up.

791
00:35:10,074 --> 00:35:12,410
And I was like, I think I can do that.

792
00:35:12,410 --> 00:35:13,344
That seems great.

793
00:35:13,344 --> 00:35:15,913
Yes. It checked all the boxes.

794
00:35:15,913 --> 00:35:17,515
Thanks.

795
00:35:17,515 --> 00:35:20,718
You know, you don't
you don't really direct the particulars.

796
00:35:21,152 --> 00:35:25,523
You kind of have a vision
of how you want to contribute.

797
00:35:26,190 --> 00:35:28,659
And this came along
and it checked all the boxes.

798
00:35:28,659 --> 00:35:33,498
It's something where
I can serve families in a meaningful way,

799
00:35:34,599 --> 00:35:36,300
which is seems to be a jam.

800
00:35:36,300 --> 00:35:36,868
Right.

801
00:35:36,868 --> 00:35:40,438
And, it's proven to be that very cool.

802
00:35:41,672 --> 00:35:46,444
So we have some sponsors to our podcast,
Keating Agency float 41.

803
00:35:46,444 --> 00:35:48,045
You ever do a float?

804
00:35:48,045 --> 00:35:50,248
No. Oh, you float in a dark tunnel with.

805
00:35:50,248 --> 00:35:52,817
Oh, I hurt my buddy.
My golf. Buddy. Amazing.

806
00:35:52,817 --> 00:35:53,651
Said I need to do.

807
00:35:53,651 --> 00:35:55,920
That fix Ivy where you get a little shot.

808
00:35:55,920 --> 00:35:57,221
I know them, I know them.

809
00:35:57,221 --> 00:35:59,490
They're friends of the family. Yes.

810
00:35:59,490 --> 00:36:03,194
Luna pizza, golf law group, people's
bank, Parkville management.

811
00:36:03,761 --> 00:36:05,763
Maximum beverage. We're here at maximum.

812
00:36:05,763 --> 00:36:08,266
This place is. Awesome.
Pretty nice. Right? Yeah.

813
00:36:08,266 --> 00:36:10,401
And our newest, Sally and Bob's.

814
00:36:10,401 --> 00:36:13,404
I love Sally, Bob. Helen. Helen.

815
00:36:13,404 --> 00:36:13,738
Yeah.

816
00:36:13,738 --> 00:36:14,939
They're. She's.

817
00:36:14,939 --> 00:36:17,675
Hello, Helen. She's she's amazing.

818
00:36:17,675 --> 00:36:20,011
And they do great work there. Specials.

819
00:36:20,011 --> 00:36:23,281
The most difficult thing to do
there is go in there and pick one special,

820
00:36:23,381 --> 00:36:26,751
very challenging. So I typically get two.

821
00:36:28,286 --> 00:36:29,854
I. Like is amazing. One.

822
00:36:29,854 --> 00:36:30,454
Yeah. I was like.

823
00:36:30,454 --> 00:36:32,123
Just come later and we'll both.

824
00:36:32,123 --> 00:36:34,292
Know I eat them both there.

825
00:36:34,292 --> 00:36:36,127
It's great. It's a just a challenge.

826
00:36:36,127 --> 00:36:37,361
It's so, so difficult.

827
00:36:37,361 --> 00:36:39,664
And it's typically a ranchos.

828
00:36:39,664 --> 00:36:41,165
What's the ranchos?

829
00:36:41,165 --> 00:36:43,000
Where was rancheros. Yes.

830
00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:45,803
But there's this lemon ricotta pancake
that she makes.

831
00:36:45,803 --> 00:36:47,972
I mean, come on,
with blueberries. It's ridiculous.

832
00:36:47,972 --> 00:36:50,775
You can't turn it.
You got to get that in something else.

833
00:36:50,775 --> 00:36:53,778
And then West Hartford Lock,
we also have West Hartford locks.

834
00:36:53,978 --> 00:36:58,883
So that's, with that being said,
three keys that you feel that are very

835
00:36:59,150 --> 00:37:02,353
that are good, important to you,
that make you a great financial advisor.

836
00:37:02,353 --> 00:37:05,356
What a three keys.

837
00:37:05,823 --> 00:37:08,793
Well,

838
00:37:10,094 --> 00:37:13,631
The I'm there to serve.

839
00:37:13,831 --> 00:37:17,235
So I think, one of the things that's.

840
00:37:19,437 --> 00:37:20,972
Folks, miss,

841
00:37:20,972 --> 00:37:24,008
is the spiritual aspect of your business.

842
00:37:24,609 --> 00:37:27,178
And the Marine Corps,
we had a marine hymn.

843
00:37:27,178 --> 00:37:28,846
Wasn't a song, was a hymn.

844
00:37:28,846 --> 00:37:31,849
So the key to leadership
and the key to planning

845
00:37:32,416 --> 00:37:35,653
and the key to organizing and discipline,

846
00:37:37,521 --> 00:37:41,058
something that underlies
it is, is the spiritual aspect of it.

847
00:37:41,892 --> 00:37:44,128
And how do you make meaning out of that?

848
00:37:44,128 --> 00:37:46,030
It's through service.

849
00:37:46,030 --> 00:37:49,033
So, you know, being a servant,

850
00:37:49,500 --> 00:37:52,003
to my families

851
00:37:52,003 --> 00:37:55,139
in that regard, is is powerful, okay.

852
00:37:55,373 --> 00:37:56,607
Service.

853
00:37:56,607 --> 00:37:58,142
And then it's leadership.

854
00:37:58,142 --> 00:38:01,145
So leadership
what's the key to leadership.

855
00:38:01,545 --> 00:38:02,947
And that is vision.

856
00:38:02,947 --> 00:38:06,183
You have to have a vision
for what it is that you want.

857
00:38:06,584 --> 00:38:08,386
And asking yourself what you want

858
00:38:08,386 --> 00:38:12,423
is one of the more spiritual questions
you can ask yourself.

859
00:38:12,456 --> 00:38:13,257
If you want

860
00:38:14,592 --> 00:38:16,827
a proper response.

861
00:38:16,827 --> 00:38:18,329
I came to grips with that again.

862
00:38:18,329 --> 00:38:20,498
In the Marine Corps,
you have to get around

863
00:38:20,498 --> 00:38:23,501
people who are talking about honor,
courage, and commitment.

864
00:38:23,734 --> 00:38:26,737
And if you talk about honor and courage

865
00:38:27,238 --> 00:38:30,241
and commitment, those are spiritual terms.

866
00:38:30,341 --> 00:38:33,344
So leadership has its foundation on that.

867
00:38:33,778 --> 00:38:37,148
What's the what's the what's the base

868
00:38:37,148 --> 00:38:40,151
word of discipline?

869
00:38:41,485 --> 00:38:43,321
So, Pinn.

870
00:38:43,321 --> 00:38:46,157
Disciple, you're hilarious.

871
00:38:46,157 --> 00:38:48,125
Disciple and disciple.

872
00:38:48,125 --> 00:38:51,128
If you're a disciple, you're committed
to something larger than yourself.

873
00:38:51,595 --> 00:38:52,897
So you got service.

874
00:38:52,897 --> 00:38:55,900
You got leadership, which is,

875
00:38:56,267 --> 00:38:58,269
vision.

876
00:38:58,269 --> 00:39:00,504
And then,

877
00:39:00,504 --> 00:39:02,473
I want to

878
00:39:02,473 --> 00:39:05,543
look if if there's a lot of disharmony

879
00:39:06,510 --> 00:39:09,513
in people's financial situation,

880
00:39:10,081 --> 00:39:15,252
you'll find that the problem is behind
what you think.

881
00:39:15,252 --> 00:39:18,589
And it has to do
with engaging your values.

882
00:39:18,589 --> 00:39:22,960
In other words, it has to do with engaging
that which is important to you.

883
00:39:23,627 --> 00:39:28,099
So I was at the, UConn
speaking to the UConn engineers

884
00:39:28,599 --> 00:39:33,337
a couple weeks ago, and I had them list
five things that are important to them

885
00:39:34,372 --> 00:39:37,274
on the paper, and they wrote it down.

886
00:39:37,274 --> 00:39:40,311
And I said, I some on
the other side of the paper said, list

887
00:39:40,311 --> 00:39:44,115
five things that you spend
most of your time and attention on.

888
00:39:44,815 --> 00:39:46,350
And they wrote it down.

889
00:39:46,350 --> 00:39:49,420
I was like, are those two things aligned?

890
00:39:50,955 --> 00:39:53,190
How you spend your time and attention?

891
00:39:53,190 --> 00:39:55,092
That's what you value.

892
00:39:55,092 --> 00:39:58,095
If you say that you value your health,

893
00:39:58,796 --> 00:40:01,599
but you're not training your body,

894
00:40:01,599 --> 00:40:05,603
if you say that you value your education,
but you're not spending

895
00:40:05,603 --> 00:40:08,272
time in the library,
you're spending time elsewhere,

896
00:40:08,272 --> 00:40:11,275
which you're
also probably spending money elsewhere.

897
00:40:11,709 --> 00:40:14,779
If those two things aren't, align
your resources,

898
00:40:15,513 --> 00:40:18,516
your blood and treasure are going
elsewhere.

899
00:40:18,516 --> 00:40:19,850
I like it.

900
00:40:19,850 --> 00:40:21,118
If you can come to that right now.

901
00:40:21,118 --> 00:40:23,087
I'm already not matching up.

902
00:40:23,087 --> 00:40:24,021
You're not matching up with the.

903
00:40:24,021 --> 00:40:25,790
Phone these days. You know.

904
00:40:25,790 --> 00:40:30,528
It's just, well, the phone has
to do with one of the larger,

905
00:40:32,430 --> 00:40:36,033
aspects of not just financial wellness,
but personal wellness.

906
00:40:36,033 --> 00:40:39,003
And that's, I call it making the climb.

907
00:40:39,503 --> 00:40:41,806
And the phone is, is a distraction.

908
00:40:41,806 --> 00:40:45,242
So many people,

909
00:40:47,111 --> 00:40:48,612
walk around the mountain

910
00:40:48,612 --> 00:40:53,150
looking up the mountain and,
complaining about how high it is

911
00:40:53,684 --> 00:40:56,520
talking about people that are

912
00:40:56,520 --> 00:40:59,523
making the climb themselves.

913
00:41:02,359 --> 00:41:04,829
Not taking that step.

914
00:41:04,829 --> 00:41:07,832
And you can spend years
walking around the mountain complaining.

915
00:41:08,132 --> 00:41:11,402
It's easier to climb,
it's easier to make the climb.

916
00:41:13,637 --> 00:41:16,774
And that the struggle

917
00:41:17,975 --> 00:41:20,344
is something that

918
00:41:20,344 --> 00:41:22,279
confuses people.

919
00:41:22,279 --> 00:41:24,482
It's like it shouldn't be a struggle
if it was meant to be.

920
00:41:24,482 --> 00:41:25,816
No, that's not true.

921
00:41:25,816 --> 00:41:28,819
We actually want the struggle.

922
00:41:28,853 --> 00:41:31,589
That's where the self-respect comes from.

923
00:41:31,589 --> 00:41:34,925
That's where the feeling of accomplishment
and honor come from.

924
00:41:36,260 --> 00:41:36,961
So it's counter.

925
00:41:36,961 --> 00:41:39,396
It's counterintuitive, but it's real.

926
00:41:39,396 --> 00:41:41,499
Yeah, I like that. Climb the mountain.

927
00:41:41,499 --> 00:41:42,466
Make the climb.

928
00:41:42,466 --> 00:41:43,200
Make the climb.

929
00:41:43,200 --> 00:41:47,404
Someone who is a spelling
smith had a director.

930
00:41:47,404 --> 00:41:48,405
She was a podcast guest.

931
00:41:48,405 --> 00:41:51,575
She's like, you don't try to move them
a whole mountain, rock by rock.

932
00:41:52,343 --> 00:41:55,513
So it's almost like step
by step, climb the mountain, move.

933
00:41:56,714 --> 00:41:57,781
And like in your make your.

934
00:41:57,781 --> 00:41:59,750
First step, make that first climb.

935
00:41:59,750 --> 00:42:00,951
Tick, tick, tick.

936
00:42:00,951 --> 00:42:03,954
The step.

937
00:42:04,722 --> 00:42:07,725
So we got the three keys
I was good three keys.

938
00:42:08,192 --> 00:42:09,393
We talked about education.

939
00:42:09,393 --> 00:42:11,362
We talked about Marines.

940
00:42:11,362 --> 00:42:14,365
We talked about financial advisor.

941
00:42:15,199 --> 00:42:15,966
That's fun.

942
00:42:15,966 --> 00:42:16,767
That's a lot of fun.

943
00:42:16,767 --> 00:42:19,770
Now, When I talk about.

944
00:42:20,771 --> 00:42:22,840
Scholar, athlete.

945
00:42:22,840 --> 00:42:26,577
A scholar, that's that
that goes on to offer, I'll tell you,

946
00:42:26,577 --> 00:42:31,282
the scholar athlete that, you know,
my children are doing phenomenal.

947
00:42:31,615 --> 00:42:34,952
And I held my children accountable

948
00:42:34,952 --> 00:42:37,955
to that as well.

949
00:42:39,156 --> 00:42:42,092
That was my perspective as I parented.

950
00:42:42,092 --> 00:42:45,095
I parented through my kids through sport,

951
00:42:45,496 --> 00:42:48,332
and I parent and parent did them through

952
00:42:48,332 --> 00:42:51,969
being good folks and coachable
through that aspect.

953
00:42:52,102 --> 00:42:55,105
And then the intellectual part,

954
00:42:55,139 --> 00:42:58,442
just being brilliant in the basics,
being brilliant in basics.

955
00:42:58,842 --> 00:43:03,380
And that context helped me
because it grounded me, right?

956
00:43:03,380 --> 00:43:05,683
It made it just made sense to me.

957
00:43:05,683 --> 00:43:06,850
So that's how I parented.

958
00:43:06,850 --> 00:43:09,386
And I have a daughter who's graduating
from the University of Virginia

959
00:43:09,386 --> 00:43:13,691
next month, my second son, he's playing
baseball in Johnson, Wales.

960
00:43:13,691 --> 00:43:17,728
He's pitching on that team,
part of a wonderful team of,

961
00:43:18,329 --> 00:43:20,764
guys that are that embraced him.

962
00:43:20,764 --> 00:43:22,766
And I couldn't be more grateful.

963
00:43:22,766 --> 00:43:28,038
They're having a wonderful experience,
and I got a sophomore in a junior who are

964
00:43:29,106 --> 00:43:29,807
athletic.

965
00:43:29,807 --> 00:43:31,842
They have great friends.

966
00:43:31,842 --> 00:43:33,577
They're strong.

967
00:43:33,577 --> 00:43:34,678
In high school.

968
00:43:34,678 --> 00:43:35,512
They're in high school. Yet?

969
00:43:35,512 --> 00:43:36,046
I'm not sure.

970
00:43:36,046 --> 00:43:40,184
You know, playing sports and lacrosse
and field hockey for my youngest daughter

971
00:43:40,184 --> 00:43:43,854
and and baseball
and basketball for my junior son.

972
00:43:44,254 --> 00:43:46,557
And I'm just, you know, scholar athlete.

973
00:43:46,557 --> 00:43:47,224
It worked for me.

974
00:43:47,224 --> 00:43:50,227
And was it was the act of reflection

975
00:43:50,494 --> 00:43:52,563
that we talked about earlier.

976
00:43:52,563 --> 00:43:56,033
And how would I have gone through
middle school,

977
00:43:56,033 --> 00:43:59,036
high school
if I if you had to do it all over again,

978
00:43:59,970 --> 00:44:02,072
you don't stop there, like,

979
00:44:02,072 --> 00:44:05,042
okay,
what would you have done differently?

980
00:44:05,175 --> 00:44:08,178
What would have been the effect

981
00:44:08,345 --> 00:44:12,182
if I would have had the proper attitude,
if I was coachable?

982
00:44:12,182 --> 00:44:15,152
I played pretty good baseball
and in college,

983
00:44:15,452 --> 00:44:17,354
it would have been different.

984
00:44:17,354 --> 00:44:20,357
I would have been a scholar athlete
if I would have read the books.

985
00:44:20,357 --> 00:44:24,328
So I made it a point,
probably the same time

986
00:44:24,328 --> 00:44:27,898
that I decided to stay in the Marine
Corps to become that dude,

987
00:44:28,932 --> 00:44:32,302
become
that scholar athlete, go for the advanced

988
00:44:32,302 --> 00:44:36,907
degree, train in CrossFit, lift
the weight, do all of that stuff.

989
00:44:37,341 --> 00:44:40,344
And now I'm leading by example.

990
00:44:41,311 --> 00:44:42,880
My children wake up, they see me.

991
00:44:42,880 --> 00:44:45,482
I'm the one up reading the books.

992
00:44:45,482 --> 00:44:48,252
They're hanging out with their friends
and they they're the one who see

993
00:44:48,252 --> 00:44:50,421
me, see me go out for the run.

994
00:44:50,421 --> 00:44:53,023
So when I ask them

995
00:44:53,023 --> 00:44:55,893
to do certain things,
I'm leading by example.

996
00:44:55,893 --> 00:44:58,896
It's there's a level of authenticity
comes through there.

997
00:44:59,496 --> 00:45:04,835
And I it's been fairly it's been recent

998
00:45:05,569 --> 00:45:08,572
where I realized that that whole

999
00:45:09,239 --> 00:45:12,242
outlook and way of parenting

1000
00:45:12,776 --> 00:45:17,381
was incredibly fruitful
because the kids were spectacular.

1001
00:45:17,715 --> 00:45:21,251
We went out for Easter brunch,
and my other three kids were out.

1002
00:45:21,785 --> 00:45:26,290
We went out to eat with my mother in law
and how they get along magical

1003
00:45:26,824 --> 00:45:28,859
and see the results of that.

1004
00:45:28,859 --> 00:45:31,528
And to know that what you did worked

1005
00:45:31,528 --> 00:45:33,697
and you know, you continue to do that.

1006
00:45:35,499 --> 00:45:36,467
I mean,

1007
00:45:36,467 --> 00:45:39,470
every day, every day I wake up

1008
00:45:39,737 --> 00:45:42,039
and I'm thankful.

1009
00:45:42,039 --> 00:45:43,941
It's awesome.

1010
00:45:43,941 --> 00:45:46,643
But that's not you got four kids.

1011
00:45:46,643 --> 00:45:48,946
Yeah. Alexis.

1012
00:45:48,946 --> 00:45:50,047
Gosh, 22.

1013
00:45:50,047 --> 00:45:51,782
Who was the kid in this picture?

1014
00:45:51,782 --> 00:45:54,785
So you're in the,

1015
00:45:56,320 --> 00:45:59,323
Alexa, Elijah, Lucas and Sierra.

1016
00:46:00,090 --> 00:46:03,093
And then these kids are.

1017
00:46:04,862 --> 00:46:07,965
So again, we could go through pictures.

1018
00:46:07,965 --> 00:46:09,166
Oh, wait, there's another one.

1019
00:46:09,166 --> 00:46:12,136
But you're at these kids where?

1020
00:46:12,136 --> 00:46:13,036
What was he doing?

1021
00:46:13,036 --> 00:46:15,439
Must have been playing soccer in Florida.

1022
00:46:15,439 --> 00:46:17,741
Oh, those are my two dudes.
Those are my dudes.

1023
00:46:17,741 --> 00:46:20,144
That's my kids. Yeah, those are my.

1024
00:46:20,144 --> 00:46:22,112
Those the one on the.

1025
00:46:22,112 --> 00:46:25,115
Actually,
the taller one is the younger one.

1026
00:46:25,415 --> 00:46:27,751
He's 17 now, Lucas.

1027
00:46:27,751 --> 00:46:30,721
And then Elijah is 18.
He's a Johnson Wells

1028
00:46:31,155 --> 00:46:34,992
very it's dude I that I who's who's living
better than that.

1029
00:46:35,058 --> 00:46:37,995
That's living a dream. It's really is.

1030
00:46:39,797 --> 00:46:42,800
And so what's the, what's the strategy
there?

1031
00:46:42,833 --> 00:46:45,803
I tell people it's all time for that
because there

1032
00:46:45,803 --> 00:46:48,305
I mean his Lucas is probably six one.

1033
00:46:48,305 --> 00:46:49,439
He's still grown.

1034
00:46:49,439 --> 00:46:51,842
His mom, I think, is five two.

1035
00:46:51,842 --> 00:46:54,111
I'm six foot. You feed them?

1036
00:46:54,111 --> 00:46:56,880
Yeah. You feed them like D1 athletes.

1037
00:46:56,880 --> 00:46:59,316
Feed them like D1 athletes. Yeah.

1038
00:46:59,316 --> 00:47:00,651
I'm going to send that to Stephania.

1039
00:47:00,651 --> 00:47:03,654
We'll pop that up on the screen.

1040
00:47:04,588 --> 00:47:06,890
I got to see my boys on the same

1041
00:47:06,890 --> 00:47:09,927
baseball field high school
baseball field at the same time.

1042
00:47:10,494 --> 00:47:16,433
And I didn't tell anyone at the time
but I was in heaven.

1043
00:47:16,433 --> 00:47:18,068
Dude that was a dream for me.

1044
00:47:18,068 --> 00:47:19,837
You talk about vision,
you talk about what you want

1045
00:47:19,837 --> 00:47:22,806
for your family,
what you want for your legacy.

1046
00:47:22,806 --> 00:47:25,475
I mean, that was a dream right
there, a dream come true.

1047
00:47:25,475 --> 00:47:26,076
And it was something

1048
00:47:26,076 --> 00:47:30,080
that was very meaningful
for me to see them play on the same field.

1049
00:47:30,480 --> 00:47:32,082
And I know that they get along well.

1050
00:47:33,550 --> 00:47:34,184
It, you know,

1051
00:47:34,184 --> 00:47:37,321
powerful, powerful image for as a parent.

1052
00:47:38,422 --> 00:47:40,057
That's awesome. You know, congrats.

1053
00:47:40,057 --> 00:47:42,392
But the best thing you can have

1054
00:47:42,392 --> 00:47:45,362
or the most proud thing
I I'm talking for myself too.

1055
00:47:45,362 --> 00:47:47,431
But just having great kids have.

1056
00:47:47,431 --> 00:47:49,499
Yeah. That says a lot for your parent.

1057
00:47:49,499 --> 00:47:52,502
What your parenting style and

1058
00:47:53,270 --> 00:47:55,405
just the other day I went to school
and I got a compliment from,

1059
00:47:55,405 --> 00:47:57,875
like, the principal at Connor
about both of my girls.

1060
00:47:57,875 --> 00:47:59,743
And it's like, feels great.

1061
00:47:59,743 --> 00:48:01,812
And then I see their coach,
another compliment.

1062
00:48:01,812 --> 00:48:03,280
And then I see the vice principal.

1063
00:48:03,280 --> 00:48:05,215
So I was, like, overwhelmed with.

1064
00:48:05,215 --> 00:48:07,084
Pride, you know?

1065
00:48:07,084 --> 00:48:10,320
So I think it's a benefit of,
you know, you again,

1066
00:48:10,320 --> 00:48:13,323
we talked about earlier,
you being for the right reasons

1067
00:48:13,557 --> 00:48:16,560
and just like appreciating young people
and being fascinated with them,

1068
00:48:16,860 --> 00:48:18,595
you know, just.

1069
00:48:18,595 --> 00:48:21,698
And now if you treat your own children
like that, you know, you

1070
00:48:21,698 --> 00:48:25,569
you inquire,
you, your, your patient, your

1071
00:48:27,504 --> 00:48:28,071
it, and it

1072
00:48:28,071 --> 00:48:31,074
just works out because
because you're authentic.

1073
00:48:32,042 --> 00:48:34,011
So rather than

1074
00:48:34,011 --> 00:48:38,081
I found out very quickly
that kids see through fraud and pretense,

1075
00:48:39,116 --> 00:48:40,117
very quickly.

1076
00:48:40,117 --> 00:48:42,953
So if you're not real,
I mean, you're going to it's

1077
00:48:42,953 --> 00:48:45,956
going to be a, a rough go.

1078
00:48:46,290 --> 00:48:47,224
So you.

1079
00:48:47,224 --> 00:48:49,826
Yeah. Don't do that.

1080
00:48:49,826 --> 00:48:50,861
Now. It's great.

1081
00:48:50,861 --> 00:48:52,629
Now you're doing good things.

1082
00:48:52,629 --> 00:48:54,464
I'm glad to have talk with you.

1083
00:48:54,464 --> 00:48:57,467
This is episode 134. Wow.

1084
00:48:57,501 --> 00:49:00,504
We talked. So now golfing.

1085
00:49:00,604 --> 00:49:03,607
So you had a golf,
but I'm going to name three golfers.

1086
00:49:04,608 --> 00:49:08,045
You got to sit one on the bench,
you got to start one

1087
00:49:08,545 --> 00:49:10,380
and you got to cut one.

1088
00:49:10,380 --> 00:49:13,383
Sit start, cut.

1089
00:49:14,251 --> 00:49:14,785
Yeah.

1090
00:49:14,785 --> 00:49:15,252
What you playing.

1091
00:49:15,252 --> 00:49:18,789
What I this is I want to get a name
I want to get this.

1092
00:49:18,789 --> 00:49:21,792
And you know I don't, I don't I watch

1093
00:49:22,092 --> 00:49:25,662
I watch my kids sports, I don't
watch sports although I watch the Masters.

1094
00:49:25,696 --> 00:49:27,631
Okay. I was rooting for Rory.

1095
00:49:27,631 --> 00:49:29,499
But you know what came?

1096
00:49:29,499 --> 00:49:32,536
What comes to mind is,
I think why we get along so well.

1097
00:49:33,003 --> 00:49:34,871
There's there's three reasons.

1098
00:49:34,871 --> 00:49:37,074
One, I already mentioned you're in this.

1099
00:49:37,074 --> 00:49:38,642
You're in this business
for the right reason.

1100
00:49:38,642 --> 00:49:40,444
And what you're doing is great.

1101
00:49:40,444 --> 00:49:43,447
The other, time was when you

1102
00:49:44,414 --> 00:49:45,916
you were at the baseball field.

1103
00:49:45,916 --> 00:49:48,518
I was with my, my,
my kids at the baseball field.

1104
00:49:48,518 --> 00:49:50,153
And I was like, what are you doing
here? Is like, well, I'm.

1105
00:49:50,153 --> 00:49:51,521
I'm getting a hotdog.

1106
00:49:51,521 --> 00:49:53,490
I was like,
you have a kid here playing baseball.

1107
00:49:53,490 --> 00:49:56,093
He's like, no, I live across the street.
I came here for lunch.

1108
00:49:56,093 --> 00:49:58,495
Someone who comes at lunch
to the baseball field.

1109
00:49:58,495 --> 00:50:00,430
The local. Yep.

1110
00:50:00,430 --> 00:50:02,933
Little League baseball field, right?

1111
00:50:02,933 --> 00:50:05,769
Oh, my God. I was like,
this is amazing. So I'll either.

1112
00:50:05,769 --> 00:50:08,672
No a parent. Yeah. Or a player 100%.

1113
00:50:08,672 --> 00:50:09,773
At 100% of a time.

1114
00:50:09,773 --> 00:50:13,510
And to to that you walked over
and had lunch at the baseball field

1115
00:50:13,510 --> 00:50:15,412
with the youth. Baseball was magical.

1116
00:50:15,412 --> 00:50:20,250
And the other is that we have
a mutual friend of Rob Oliver, and I,

1117
00:50:21,051 --> 00:50:24,821
if you give me a top three, he's
one of the guys that I play golf

1118
00:50:24,821 --> 00:50:25,655
with all day long.

1119
00:50:25,655 --> 00:50:26,790
He's a great human being.

1120
00:50:26,790 --> 00:50:29,826
And and that's another reason
you get along well with him.

1121
00:50:29,826 --> 00:50:32,696
And he's my person, and, Yeah, that's

1122
00:50:33,897 --> 00:50:35,032
that's who I'd play.

1123
00:50:35,032 --> 00:50:35,399
An answer.

1124
00:50:35,399 --> 00:50:38,301
The question I did answer the question
right there. Yeah.

1125
00:50:38,301 --> 00:50:40,771
Rob Oliver was my first West Hartford
friend.

1126
00:50:40,771 --> 00:50:41,104
Really?

1127
00:50:41,104 --> 00:50:44,808
Because we went to a haunted, a Halloween

1128
00:50:45,575 --> 00:50:49,479
movie in the woods for the school,
and we're, like, meeting all the parents.

1129
00:50:49,479 --> 00:50:51,681
And he's like, hey, I'm Rob, I'm Eric.

1130
00:50:51,681 --> 00:50:54,051
Where are you from?
Waterbury. I'm from Waterbury.

1131
00:50:54,051 --> 00:50:55,652
Yeah, we've been friends ever since.

1132
00:50:55,652 --> 00:50:58,221
He he he makes your life better.

1133
00:50:58,221 --> 00:50:59,222
He's a great dude.

1134
00:50:59,222 --> 00:51:02,025
Yeah. Amazing person. Yeah, yeah.

1135
00:51:02,025 --> 00:51:02,626
Cool.

1136
00:51:02,626 --> 00:51:04,928
Rob Oliver, I was going to say Sid Stark.

1137
00:51:04,928 --> 00:51:07,931
Cut Rob Oliver,

1138
00:51:08,298 --> 00:51:10,934
John Decker or Brendan Moore, but be.

1139
00:51:10,934 --> 00:51:13,503
More. Yeah, he's do too.

1140
00:51:13,503 --> 00:51:13,737
Yeah.

1141
00:51:13,737 --> 00:51:15,972
You got a picture with John Decker
golfing?

1142
00:51:15,972 --> 00:51:17,607
Yeah, I played well. I had his son.

1143
00:51:17,607 --> 00:51:20,210
I taught two of his children,
two of his three children.

1144
00:51:20,210 --> 00:51:20,544
I had

1145
00:51:21,511 --> 00:51:22,412
Jack and Meredith.

1146
00:51:22,412 --> 00:51:24,448
Re kidding me. Gotcha.

1147
00:51:24,448 --> 00:51:27,451
Amazing
kids, amazing families in West Hartford.

1148
00:51:27,451 --> 00:51:29,352
Yeah. So special.

1149
00:51:29,352 --> 00:51:32,322
John Decker, episode 65 on his birthday.

1150
00:51:32,322 --> 00:51:33,323
Yeah.

1151
00:51:33,323 --> 00:51:34,724
Yeah. And be more.

1152
00:51:34,724 --> 00:51:36,793
This is great,
man. It's a great thing you got going on.

1153
00:51:36,793 --> 00:51:41,465
So yeah, I'm really I want to thank Direct
Line Media for the opportunity

1154
00:51:41,465 --> 00:51:44,734
to sit down with good people
that doing great things in the community.

1155
00:51:45,068 --> 00:51:48,305
Dave had me on from his behind the brand.

1156
00:51:48,638 --> 00:51:51,108
And as I left,
I said, hey, can I do the podcasting?

1157
00:51:51,108 --> 00:51:52,142
Can I ask the questions?

1158
00:51:52,142 --> 00:51:55,445
And here we are, 134 episodes later.

1159
00:51:55,946 --> 00:51:58,281
I'm proud of you, man. Yeah, no,
we hit it off.

1160
00:51:58,281 --> 00:52:01,118
I saw you again.
The males in elementary school.

1161
00:52:01,118 --> 00:52:05,489
When you go to a meeting
and you're in a room for 50 teachers.

1162
00:52:05,489 --> 00:52:07,257
Yeah, two of them are male.

1163
00:52:07,257 --> 00:52:08,758
Yeah. It's so it's like, hey.

1164
00:52:08,758 --> 00:52:09,092
Yeah.

1165
00:52:09,092 --> 00:52:10,060
What's up? Let's meet.

1166
00:52:10,060 --> 00:52:12,362
Let's say hi to each other at least.

1167
00:52:12,362 --> 00:52:16,833
But yeah, we, we golfed for the
we are the for the union.

1168
00:52:16,867 --> 00:52:17,601
The union. Golf.

1169
00:52:17,601 --> 00:52:20,237
I'm the treasurer. West Hartford
retired educator.

1170
00:52:20,237 --> 00:52:22,906
You are. I'm
the treasurer, dude. Oh, nice.

1171
00:52:22,906 --> 00:52:24,007
Yeah. Yeah. You were.

1172
00:52:24,007 --> 00:52:25,642
You saw Marty. You saw Dave.

1173
00:52:25,642 --> 00:52:27,210
Did you saw Theresa.

1174
00:52:27,210 --> 00:52:31,615
We have our brunch coming up next month
at Rockledge, and it's going to.

1175
00:52:31,615 --> 00:52:34,784
I'm have someone from my firm
coming to talk about the Social Security

1176
00:52:34,784 --> 00:52:35,919
Fairness Act.

1177
00:52:35,919 --> 00:52:37,521
So doing good things there as well.

1178
00:52:37,521 --> 00:52:39,222
Oh, nice. Yeah.

1179
00:52:39,222 --> 00:52:40,056
Yeah.

1180
00:52:40,056 --> 00:52:40,891
What's that about now?

1181
00:52:40,891 --> 00:52:43,627
Teachers weren't allowed
to get Social Security, but now we can.

1182
00:52:43,627 --> 00:52:45,962
Now you can. It's a he's
going to explain it.

1183
00:52:45,962 --> 00:52:47,764
That's why I got a smart baby.

1184
00:52:47,764 --> 00:52:50,700
I'm the child
right. I'm not. He'll explain it that

1185
00:52:51,902 --> 00:52:53,403
full disclosure.

1186
00:52:53,403 --> 00:52:54,771
Not giving any advice on that.

1187
00:52:54,771 --> 00:52:57,774
You got to come to the brunch
or give me a call

1188
00:52:58,508 --> 00:52:59,009
and I'll get.

1189
00:52:59,009 --> 00:53:00,277
I'll get her on the phone. Yeah.

1190
00:53:00,277 --> 00:53:01,611
You got the, data.

1191
00:53:01,611 --> 00:53:04,114
That and the time and the phone number.

1192
00:53:04,114 --> 00:53:05,782
15th. 15th.

1193
00:53:05,782 --> 00:53:08,185
I'm going to put it out
on my social media.

1194
00:53:08,185 --> 00:53:11,221
I just, it's the brunch at Rockledge.

1195
00:53:11,221 --> 00:53:15,992
It's it starts at 11, 11 or 2 on the 15th.

1196
00:53:16,860 --> 00:53:20,530
Yeah, because I'm leaving the 16th to go
to Virginia for my daughter's graduation.

1197
00:53:20,797 --> 00:53:23,800
So. May 15th, 1102 Rockledge.

1198
00:53:23,800 --> 00:53:25,202
How do people reach you, Rick?

1199
00:53:25,202 --> 00:53:28,338
You got a phone number, email
you'd like to share, a website I got.

1200
00:53:28,338 --> 00:53:29,539
Can you can you put it up?

1201
00:53:29,539 --> 00:53:39,449
I mean, do I give, but just give my phone
number out 86068093568606809356.

1202
00:53:39,783 --> 00:53:40,884
Find me, you can find me.

1203
00:53:40,884 --> 00:53:45,255
I'm in West Hartford often at Trevor
Travel. Yep.

1204
00:53:45,822 --> 00:53:48,291
What about all right. Great. So

1205
00:53:49,292 --> 00:53:50,894
just a couple of upcoming events.

1206
00:53:50,894 --> 00:53:52,596
We have a balloon gin mile.

1207
00:53:52,596 --> 00:53:55,765
We're collaborating with two
for one friends of Feeney's hosting

1208
00:53:55,765 --> 00:53:59,603
bingo at Raymore
and Flanagan on May 6th, 532 eight.

1209
00:54:00,170 --> 00:54:03,173
Check that out. Memorial day parade.

1210
00:54:03,273 --> 00:54:06,142
Oh, speaking of which, Memorial Day parade
are you going to answer me?

1211
00:54:06,142 --> 00:54:07,377
We'll talk about it, I. Thought I did.

1212
00:54:07,377 --> 00:54:09,045
You want to talk about an hour
or you off right now?

1213
00:54:09,045 --> 00:54:09,412
We'll talk.

1214
00:54:09,412 --> 00:54:10,447
We'll talk about it later.

1215
00:54:10,447 --> 00:54:13,250
Because like we we were going to go away.

1216
00:54:13,250 --> 00:54:15,919
But I think we're going to be home
if we, if we can lock that in.

1217
00:54:15,919 --> 00:54:18,455
I'll do that. Okay. I'd be honored.

1218
00:54:18,455 --> 00:54:20,123
That'd be great. Yeah. No. All right.

1219
00:54:20,123 --> 00:54:21,024
We got exciting news.

1220
00:54:21,024 --> 00:54:24,027
I'll share next podcast,
Hartford Athletic.

1221
00:54:24,427 --> 00:54:27,163
June 6th, Bristol Blues.

1222
00:54:27,163 --> 00:54:29,733
You ever go to a Bristol Blues game?
Those are fun, too, Joe.

1223
00:54:29,733 --> 00:54:32,402
July 12th, 25 bucks. All you can eat.

1224
00:54:32,402 --> 00:54:35,005
All you can drink
to watch baseball in Bristol.

1225
00:54:35,005 --> 00:54:36,273
Babe Ruth played there

1226
00:54:37,307 --> 00:54:38,842
the fourth annual

1227
00:54:38,842 --> 00:54:42,679
Friends of Nicholas game
at the Hartford Yard Goats, August 16th,

1228
00:54:43,647 --> 00:54:46,850
and then the fourth annual golf tournament
September 13th.

1229
00:54:46,850 --> 00:54:48,351
When you going to play or play?

1230
00:54:48,351 --> 00:54:49,185
September 13th?

1231
00:54:49,185 --> 00:54:52,188
It's a Saturday in September.

1232
00:54:52,656 --> 00:54:53,623
You got to give me a calendar.

1233
00:54:53,623 --> 00:54:55,292
I got work on the calendar now and then.

1234
00:54:55,292 --> 00:54:56,726
We could look for sponsors.

1235
00:54:56,726 --> 00:54:59,062
We'd love to have Bay State Financial
be a sponsor.

1236
00:54:59,062 --> 00:55:00,297
Yeah. Bay State's great.

1237
00:55:00,297 --> 00:55:03,300
So independent large independent firm
out of Boston.

1238
00:55:04,134 --> 00:55:07,137
Broker dealers, MassMutual.

1239
00:55:07,304 --> 00:55:09,673
Fantastic. Organization.

1240
00:55:09,673 --> 00:55:12,676
One of the big mutuals. So solid.

1241
00:55:12,909 --> 00:55:16,846
And then our seventh annual makerspace,
kids build with cardboard and duct tape.

1242
00:55:16,846 --> 00:55:19,849
So wonderful event
at Elmwood Senior Center.

1243
00:55:21,718 --> 00:55:23,753
I want to shout out my guys
ball for a cure.

1244
00:55:23,753 --> 00:55:26,756
They were just recently the recipients
of the

1245
00:55:27,023 --> 00:55:30,026
honorees for the West Hartford
Saint Patrick's Day

1246
00:55:30,260 --> 00:55:33,463
section of the Hartford
Saint Patrick's Day Parade.

1247
00:55:34,397 --> 00:55:37,834
My guys Cole, Luke, Aiden, Brian,

1248
00:55:37,834 --> 00:55:41,371
Brandon, Max, Matt, Tommy,
and Will ball for a cure.

1249
00:55:41,871 --> 00:55:43,573
Luke's going to be a future guest. Yeah.

1250
00:55:44,841 --> 00:55:46,309
Good people ball for a cure.

1251
00:55:46,309 --> 00:55:48,778
All West Hartford guys.
They were in high school.

1252
00:55:48,778 --> 00:55:50,847
They had a classmate have cancer.

1253
00:55:50,847 --> 00:55:53,750
They raised money by playing basketball
next year.

1254
00:55:53,750 --> 00:55:55,385
You know, they're playing basketball.

1255
00:55:55,385 --> 00:55:58,021
They're doing a golf events.
They're doing concerts. They're doing.

1256
00:55:58,021 --> 00:56:00,924
Yeah. Raising money. Great kids,
great kids.

1257
00:56:00,924 --> 00:56:03,426
So West Hartford's
a good player. From the hood, dude.

1258
00:56:03,426 --> 00:56:05,995
They're from my hood neighborhood.
Oh, yeah. Tom, your.

1259
00:56:05,995 --> 00:56:07,497
Yeah, yeah, lives right over by you.

1260
00:56:07,497 --> 00:56:10,066
Yeah. And we.

1261
00:56:10,066 --> 00:56:12,235
So we talk. Favorite teacher.
You've been mentioned a lot.

1262
00:56:12,235 --> 00:56:16,339
Do you have a favorite teacher
in ever interior?

1263
00:56:16,873 --> 00:56:18,608
Oh, yeah. Oh, gosh.

1264
00:56:18,608 --> 00:56:20,343
It's between Mrs.

1265
00:56:20,343 --> 00:56:20,977
Cohn.

1266
00:56:20,977 --> 00:56:25,448
It's my sixth grade teacher
and Miss Mealey, my kindergarten teacher.

1267
00:56:26,216 --> 00:56:28,585
Nice. Yeah.

1268
00:56:28,585 --> 00:56:31,154
Special people
back in town, back in Bellville.

1269
00:56:31,154 --> 00:56:34,124
Any recommendations
or closing remarks or questions for me?

1270
00:56:34,124 --> 00:56:35,392
This is this is great, dude.

1271
00:56:35,392 --> 00:56:37,427
You just keep doing what you're doing.

1272
00:56:37,427 --> 00:56:41,131
You know, if you
the one of the keys to perseverance,

1273
00:56:41,798 --> 00:56:45,201
the most important thing is to love
what you do and your love what you do. So

1274
00:56:46,336 --> 00:56:47,971
let's keep doing that.

1275
00:56:47,971 --> 00:56:48,505
Thanks, Rick.

1276
00:56:48,505 --> 00:56:51,174
I appreciate that,
and I honestly do love what I do.

1277
00:56:51,174 --> 00:56:53,877
Teaching is, you know,

1278
00:56:53,877 --> 00:56:56,880
I, like you said, teach
having my daughters in the same school.

1279
00:56:56,880 --> 00:56:59,816
So teaching in West Hartford
and living with Hartford, great.

1280
00:56:59,816 --> 00:57:01,751
But teaching at the same school
my daughters went to.

1281
00:57:01,751 --> 00:57:02,886
It was a dream come true.

1282
00:57:02,886 --> 00:57:06,656
So, and the West Hartford
great education system.

1283
00:57:06,656 --> 00:57:10,560
And, My second year, I had both
my neighbor's kids in my in my class.

1284
00:57:11,327 --> 00:57:12,462
That's great. You can't beat that.

1285
00:57:12,462 --> 00:57:14,264
What are you going to do with that?
That's awesome.

1286
00:57:14,264 --> 00:57:16,666
I got a neighbor
like she's in second grade.

1287
00:57:16,666 --> 00:57:19,669
I call her neighbor, and I'm like.

1288
00:57:19,803 --> 00:57:21,604
When you come in next year

1289
00:57:21,604 --> 00:57:24,541
and her dad owns a restaurant and I'm
like, hey, I can I want some free food.

1290
00:57:24,541 --> 00:57:27,544
Free food. Right? Perks. What a perks.

1291
00:57:27,911 --> 00:57:29,045
Yeah. Spectacular, man.

1292
00:57:29,045 --> 00:57:30,447
Thanks again. This is awesome.

1293
00:57:31,381 --> 00:57:33,183
All right then, one.

1294
00:57:33,183 --> 00:57:36,152
But while we did mention something,
are you down with O.p.p?

1295
00:57:36,286 --> 00:57:38,521
Did you. That's so amazing.

1296
00:57:38,521 --> 00:57:39,756
I can't tell you what.

1297
00:57:39,756 --> 00:57:42,125
What minute or minute? Minute 18 in.

1298
00:57:42,125 --> 00:57:46,729
But that was one of the last things I did
before I ran on to the Marine Corps.

1299
00:57:46,729 --> 00:57:47,764
Is that video?

1300
00:57:47,764 --> 00:57:50,767
And, it's been pretty interesting.

1301
00:57:51,034 --> 00:57:54,204
You get a lot of drinks
bought for you in the suburbs

1302
00:57:54,204 --> 00:57:55,772
when you mention
that you're in that video.

1303
00:57:55,772 --> 00:57:57,273
So, so funny.

1304
00:57:57,273 --> 00:57:58,475
You down? What? O.p.p.

1305
00:57:58,475 --> 00:58:00,710
Yeah. You know me.

1306
00:58:00,710 --> 00:58:02,345
All right.

1307
00:58:02,345 --> 00:58:04,180
So, yeah,
we talked everything we wanted to.

1308
00:58:04,180 --> 00:58:06,516
That's it. Man, this is great
having me on, I appreciate that.

1309
00:58:06,516 --> 00:58:07,817
Yeah. Rick, you're a wonderful person.

1310
00:58:07,817 --> 00:58:10,820
I appreciate your, compliments
and kind words.

1311
00:58:10,920 --> 00:58:13,056
You're a great person, your inspiration.

1312
00:58:13,056 --> 00:58:14,724
You're definitely a role model to me.

1313
00:58:14,724 --> 00:58:16,259
So keep up the good work.

1314
00:58:16,259 --> 00:58:18,094
Wonderful to sit down and talk with you.

1315
00:58:18,094 --> 00:58:20,129
This was episode 134.

1316
00:58:20,129 --> 00:58:21,197
Feeney talks with friends.

1317
00:58:21,197 --> 00:58:24,200
We're here at Rick
Wells, a Bay state financial.

1318
00:58:24,300 --> 00:58:26,803
Please
like and share this podcast on YouTube,

1319
00:58:26,803 --> 00:58:30,173
Spotify, Google,
wherever you can get it on your platforms.

1320
00:58:30,573 --> 00:58:33,676
Like and share
and hit that like button on three.

1321
00:58:33,676 --> 00:58:34,744
Let's say be a good friend.

1322
00:58:34,744 --> 00:58:37,146
Family readiness.
Let's go. Family readiness.

1323
00:58:37,146 --> 00:58:38,281
All right. 123

1324
00:58:39,883 --> 00:58:40,884
family readiness.

1325
00:58:40,884 --> 00:58:42,051
What I'm going to say be a good friend.

1326
00:58:42,051 --> 00:58:44,320
Oh okay.

1327
00:58:44,320 --> 00:58:46,322
123. Be a good friend.