Postal Interviews - Dinner Plus Drinks #124

SPEAKER_02 0:00

So this is another I have something hiding in a binder.

SPEAKER_00 0:03

What?

SPEAKER_02 0:03

So we're gonna I think your weekly update's enough, so we can go on from there. Okay. Well, today I poured us a nice glass of white wine, appropriate for the cold, rainy weather. I know. But it is Shaw and Smith M3 Chardonnay from Adelaide Hills, and it's for a special reason. Why? We have started interviews for season two of Wine 201. We're doing an Australian wine season. Surprise! We interviewed the lovely folks from Sean Smith, and they recommended this as the wine to try. And of course, it was the one wine we didn't have.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

Yeah, we've tried a few of them. This one is already turning out to be really fascinating, actually. I'm never sure. I always question you.

SPEAKER_02 0:56

So this is a delicious class of Australian Chardonnay from Sean Smith. Cool climate, Adelaide Hills. What do you think?

SPEAKER_00 1:05

Clean and refreshing, like all the wine, excuse me. I feel like we've been having from Australia while we've been recording. All of their wine just feels like clean. I don't know how else to say it. Not that wine feels dirty, but it all feels refreshing and from like from the earth where it is, you know.

SPEAKER_02 1:20

Well, guys, I hope uh you get excited for season one, season two of wine 201. So like wine 201-2. It's hard. Wine 201.2. One of the things. Coming up soon-ish. You got quite the weighty subject on here about your life, Bridget.

SPEAKER_00 1:36

In all caps, what the actual fuck is what it says. Just feels like we can't probably touch on the most disturbing thing happening in modern day history. Is it the most disturbing? I don't know. What hard to rate what's the most disturbing?

SPEAKER_02 1:50

I'm gonna not talk about the content of it because I just don't want to touch that.

SPEAKER_00 1:54

Um Because you're a man or because it's too political? I'm actually asking that question.

SPEAKER_02 2:00

A little bit of both. Yeah. Um I I've seen some good takes on men shouldn't be able to allowed to have a dis an opinion, and then some like, no, men need to have an opinion.

SPEAKER_00 2:09

Yeah. Yeah, but I think that's an interesting discussion.

SPEAKER_02 2:11

And I I I just so I just don't want to talk about it because I'm gonna say something wrong. But what I want to talk about is the actual like mechanics of it. So I I have some thimp sympathy to the way the decision was reasoned, in that constitutionally speaking, all powers not specifically granted to the federal government are granted to the states. Guys, f if you're not clear on what's going on, we're talking about rover suede being overturned. And health, regulation of health is left to the states. So from a fundamentally, if you are just going on what the constitution says, there is sound logic behind saying no, this is a state-by-state issue. The problem with that is that we are very bad at doing what the founders wanted and amending the constitution and updating it. They thought it would be updated frequently. There's a lot of basis for that, and we're just bad at it because there's too many divergent viewpoints, there's too many states, it's too hard to do. So justices frequently read things into the constitution that aren't there. For instance, we use the interstate commerce clause to say, no, you can't let black people not into your restaurant. Um, it was it's a stretch, like it is a huge stretch, but uh we used that, uh Supreme Court justices used that to establish a precedent, and after 50 years it became accepted as yes, maybe it was a bit of a stretch, but it's part of the constitution, it's understood as such. Um English law works that way a lot more, common law. We have there's no right to health care in the constitution. There's no right to be alive in the constitution. Um, a lot of other countries who maybe do follow common law or have constitutions have explicitly stated rights to health care, living space, food. We don't. Um, I think most people in America would say that you have a fundamental right to health care. Um it's just not in the constitution. It got read into the constitution by Roe versus Wade in a roundabout way. What the conservative majority I don't even necessarily want to call him conservative, I want to call him Republican majority because I think the court is now politicized, with the exception of John Roberts, um, whom I admire a lot for how he has handled his role as Chief Justice. Um they decided to say, we're gonna stop looking at the Constitution the way that's been looked at for the past 100 years, and we're just gonna go back to textualism. And as I said, I have sympathy for that view, and it might be it is intellectually correct. I don't think it's the right thing to do. Um and I I think it's shocking, and I think it opens up quite frankly, an assault on minority rights, on black people, on Hispanics, on anyone underprivileged that doesn't have on homosexuals, on women, um not just for abortion rights, but marriage rights.

SPEAKER_00 5:09

Um it also opens up states to do ridiculous things like what Louisiana is doing with IUDs.

SPEAKER_02 5:16

So are you kidding me? I I I think it's horrible. I also think Republican judges like the um airline no mask thing have been doing horrific things where when you issue an opinion like this, you should stay it right away so that states like Wisconsin, where um a law from 1848 can come back on the books immediately, have a little bit of a runway time to say, you know, wait, maybe not. Let's figure this out, let's make some changes. Um, you know, you can't issue a ruling and say, as of the instant this hits, no one has to wear masks on planes. Um have a little respect for the practicality. John Roberts is great at that. I think it's horrifically shocking that this leaked. I think whoever does it, um, they're not gonna go to jail because it's not against the law, but I think they should be named and shamed. I do think it was Republican that did it, um, because I think they are trying to, I think I think the way Alito wrote this, I read a really good article about his relationship with John Roberts and how it's splintering. Um the language he used is despicable um and is not worthy of the Supreme Court. It is grandstanding, it is playing to Fox News, maybe even one America News. And you can agree with this decision and think it could be handled with more class, I believe. And for this, so I think I think it might be Alito's clerk that wrote this. The clerks are very young people that haven't been exposed to the world and haven't had a chance to have the modern influence the world provides. So I think someone close to Alito, I think he got some pushback on the opinion. I think people were maybe starting to splinter. I think John Roberts was maybe building a bit of a center ground. And I think someone in the Republican Party, a very pro-life person, leaked this to galvanize it and put pressure on justices to go with how the draft ruling was. And um it's very sad that this happened. People can disagree on the content of it, but what this did structurally to America and what this means for the Supreme Court and the faith in this institution that you know, and and it's hard because it's just criticizing Republicans and you feel like it should be able to be both ways, but it it is just Republicans doing this. DeSantis is unhappy with the opinion. He said, Well, I'm just gonna appeal it again. That's not how it works, buddy. Like, so it's just it's just very discouraging to see these norms, these societal norms, the societal contract, the way that we functioned as a society for all this long time, just being thrown out the window by an overwhelming majority of people because 80% of people in America do believe abortion should be available to women in some way.

SPEAKER_00 8:01

I um have a good friend that I'm actually going to visit this afternoon. I'm taking an afternoon off and uh having a sleepover in Chicago. I'm so excited. It's like my Mother's Day gift to myself. And um she and I differ politically quite vastly, but we we've talked a lot. She I grew up with her. She's one of my best friends. Um, we talk a lot about how instead of just hating each other for our opposing views, the mark of our true friendship is like that we can have mature conversations about it. We could, we can get loud and yell a little bit. And um, you know, so I am excited to talk. I don't do not know her stance on this at all. Um, but but politically, uh she's Republican. And um, you know, I still love her uh because it just depends what your priority is, right? And to me, I mean, I'm just like this is just another thing. I just feel like I truly feel like our world is imploding and we joke about that a lot, but I'm constantly thinking about we talked before we started recording, we were talking about like, are we already fucking up our kids? Yep, you know, our kids are not our youngest, I mean, Nick's one is not even three. My youngest is not even three. And we're like, shit, are we already screwing them up? And I'm like, well, sure, man. Is there even gonna be a world that like I want a daughter to live in at this point? So anyway, we just had to talk about it because quite frankly, it would be shitty for us not to have mentioned this giant glaring piece of history happening.

SPEAKER_02 9:25

The situation I feel worse for people are people that are having challenging pregnancies.

SPEAKER_00 9:32

Oh my god, yeah. And unable to get pregnant, challenging pregnancies.

SPEAKER_02 9:36

The the stigma that's around challenging pregnancies, lost pregnancies already, and the silence around it and lack of care support understanding is is bad. And um this is gonna hurt it even worse.

SPEAKER_00 9:52

I I mean i in Wisconsin. Whether you know it or not, everybody knows someone that's gotten an abortion. And whether you know the reason or not, like this is hurting, that is not something discussed. So not pregnancy loss, like we're just starting to talk about pregnancy losses more publicly. Like, when are people gonna feel safe saying, hey, I had to get an abortion because of this reason or because of that, you know, and oh, I just feel I just feel so angry about all of women's, you know, like the pregnancy postpartum thing is just a bunch of bullshit, you know, and and I can feel that now for the six years that I've had a kid alive, it's so much more. And and you don't have to have kids to feel that it's a piece of shit situation in in America.

SPEAKER_02 10:35

And my challenge to the Amy Comey Barrett's of the world you got on the Supreme Court to make this decision, and you were picked for it. And in your confirmation hearings, you said you don't think abortion is necessary because adoption's an option. Well, to people that feel that way, that's a great feeling. Put some money behind it. Yeah. If you don't want people to get pregnant, teach sex ed, make condoms available. Stop the cycle, make birth control free, provide health care.

SPEAKER_00 11:05

We've talked about the cycle a lot in our household. For some reason, this past week or two has been like we've just seen a lot of situations of like shitty parent breeds shitty kid, shitty kid grows up to be shitty parent, breeds more shitty kids. And some it takes one very brave person, whether it be a kid or a parent or whoever, to say, Whoa, I need to fix this cycle, because uh it's a cycle and it's never gonna stop without one brave person in that cycle saying, Whoa, whoa, whoa, I gotta get out of this, you know.

SPEAKER_02 11:34

So the cycle, man. And you talked about respecting each other having conversations. Polling's pretty consistent. 80% of people think abortion in some way should be legal. And I've seen a lot of things of you can be pro-choice without being pro-abortion, and that's honestly where I am. I there's reasons, and uh I think in the overwhelming cases, it's a traumatic, horrific thing, and it's a hard decision. Now, there are definitely people that are irresponsible about it.

SPEAKER_00 12:02

Sure, but there are people irresponsible about having kids.

SPEAKER_02 12:05

And you can't In America we protect minorities, and I don't mean, you know, people of color minority, I mean we protect minority rights. We protect innocent until proven guilty. You have to be 99% certain we want a hundred guilty people to walk so one innocent person doesn't. So saying, well, I know this person that got 23 abortions because, you know, you can't use them as the example.

SPEAKER_00 12:29

You know, it's easy to use the extremes to make your point.

SPEAKER_02 12:32

There's the the I don't know if meme is the right word going around, but you know, I stand for whomever who found out her child had developed without any organs and had to choose to deliver you know, all of these things that are you can't really judge that person until you've walked in their shoes and you don't know what you decide. And plenty of politicians that are super pro-life have skeletons in their closet.

SPEAKER_00 12:55

Sure. Absolutely. So damn, you guys. We tried, we keep trying. I feel like for at least a year we've tried to be like, we're not gonna talk about depressing things. We're a happy place. But the world's kind of a depressing place.

SPEAKER_02 13:10

So that's why I kept that one. So I think that was enough on that. I do want to hear my story first. Sure, man, yeah. Um, mine's about one of your favorite things, goodwill. Yay! And one of my favorite things ancient Roman antiquity. I'm glad you're sharing it because I already had my article picked up. So uh this lady in Austin, Texas is a goodwill finder and she likes to find art things. She found under a table at this goodwill a head, a bust, a statue bust, uh, like life-size head. Uh, it was $34.99. Art collector Laura Young found this sculpture on the floor beneath the table. She thought it looked undervalued. She thought it looked old and worn. So she started consulting with an art history expert at the University of Texas, and then auction houses, because that's where the true experts are. London and Germany, right? Yep. And then the the Sotheby's that said, like, hey, we think this got stolen from Germany in World War II. Like somebody, you know, American soldier brought it back. And sure enough, it is a bust of Pompey Magnus, uh, or as they'd say an American Pompey the Great, who was defeated by Julius Caesar. He was part of the Triumvirate uh with Iulius Caesar, and then Caesar defeated him because Pompey wanted to do his own thing. Pompey was the rich one, he was the funder.

SPEAKER_01 14:31

Great.

SPEAKER_02 14:32

Um, and then anyway, so it's this bust of Pompey, who was very he was the richest man in the world for you know, a thousand years or something. I think it's Elon Musk now. Um but uh found this, it's been long missing. It had belonged to King Ludwig Von of Bavaria, uh, who built a full-scale model of a house from Pompeii. Because, you know.

SPEAKER_00 14:56

Why not?

SPEAKER_02 14:56

Why not? You're the king, why not? Make it rain. Um, but uh it stood for 200 years, it was damaged by allied bombers in World War II, got back to Texas, lady found it. It's being displayed um in San Antonio Museum of Art until May 21st, 2023, and then it's going back to Germany.

SPEAKER_00 15:16

So because she can't, there's something like she can't sell it, right?

SPEAKER_02 15:19

Yeah, because it's uh looted art.

SPEAKER_00 15:21

Yes, looted art. That's what it was. Because I literally, yeah, saw this this morning. And here, you know what I thought? Because she made a comment. There was a quote in the article I was reading, which was from a different source, but whatever. Someone picked it up. And um, it said something like, Oh, I didn't know what it was, but it was only 35 bucks. And me, I'm like, $35? That's expensive. Well, I know.

SPEAKER_02 15:39

She thought it was undervalued. I know. I hope the German Museum at least like flies her over or something to like something, you know. Because like you said, she had like, I mean, it's only $35, but she hey, she's still out of pocket. She took all the effort to like figure this out. Like, fly her over, guys.

SPEAKER_00 15:53

Yeah, well, that's what she was um contacting all these auction houses. I'm like, did that cost money? Did they just yeah? I thought the same thing. Like, how much did she spend figuring this out?

SPEAKER_02 16:01

I mean, time is money and money is time, and you know the thrill of the hunt. So she she hit an all-time. So, Bridget, maybe uh stop buying clothes and start buying.

SPEAKER_00 16:10

I mean, I get excited when I find like Patagonia could well, because I'm like, whoa, this was only 10 bucks and it retails for 200.

SPEAKER_02 16:16

I mean, I did get a three of my art history exam. A three? Without even trying. What does that mean? A three. My AP art history exam, you know? So three's passing, four's good, five's great. I literally don't remember the grading skill.

SPEAKER_00 16:29

Um, so I I I wasn't in AP art history though.

SPEAKER_02 16:33

Oh, I wasn't either. I just took the test. For fun.

SPEAKER_00 16:35

You that sounds great. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 16:37

So if you have any questions, just send it to me.

SPEAKER_00 16:39

I did AP English.

SPEAKER_02 16:41

Uh yeah, I did, I did eight, yes.

SPEAKER_00 16:43

Um, okay, yeah, good. So uh I uh I want to share a couple of things that I keep being targeted at, which must mean they know I love my husband so much. So I have I started as one article and then it was a second and a third. Tyler. All from the same website. So the website is nerdist.com. Not exactly a site I typically read. Yeah, it's a weird target. But uh I I click on these things. So this is also for all you people who maybe don't like topics we typically discuss, because this is not something some of you are gonna be like, what the hell is this? So there is a director. Is he a director? He's a creator, Miyazaki, Hayo Miyazaki, and he created uh movies like Howell's Moving Castle, Totoro, which if you sound like a like to you, if it sounds like I'm speaking a different language, these are Tyler grew up with, and so I've watched them with him, and they're really good. I actually super enjoy them. I don't enjoy all of his like uh, you know, eclectic movie likings, but these I love. So anyway, Miyazaki is making one last Studio Ghibli movie. So Studio Ghibli is his like place that he creates things, right? And that's so all of his movies are Studio Ghibli, and he's making one final movie, which is a big deal if you're in this world. And Tyler, this is for you if you haven't seen this article yet. So I first saw that he's making one brand new Studio Ghibli movie, and it's gonna um be about, it's gonna be based on a novel, standby. Um, it says the actual film could be anything. We don't know what it is, but it is a fantasy on a grand scale, which are all of his movies. Um, it's a 15-year-old boy in Tokyo, small for his age and fond of mischief, whose father has recently died. So it will go on and on. These are all translations, obviously, from a Japanese novel. Um, but I have put three links here. I'm gonna make Nick put all three links in the show notes because I read one article. I got a second one. If you are ever traveling over the great seas, Studio Ghibli has a theme park. I didn't know this was a thing, but they just realized or they just revealed um Howell's Moving Castle, which is one of the movies. It's exactly what you think. It's a giant castle that moves. They have that is um one of the, like, like Disney World, you know, it has lots of different, I don't know, what's the word? Sections. Nick, you're the Disney World expert. Like Worlds. Worlds of Lands. Yeah, like whatever, Tomorrowland. So Studio Ghibli theme park has the same thing. And um, there's going to be a giant howls moving castle. And finally, if we haven't covered all of Tyler's favorite things, I got targeted with a third article. Studio Ghibli meets Dungeons and Dragons in an adventure anthology. So now uh Studio Ghibli is a favorite thing of Tyler's. Dungeons and Dragons is a favorite thing. So, Tyler, if you haven't heard of this, we're linking it for you, man. Uh, so these are two different like mythical, magical, wondrous universes, and they're coming together in a new unofficial anthology. It takes inspiration. Oh my god, you guys. It's as if he can hear me live recording. He's calling right now. Put him on, put him on, put him on. Put him on?

SPEAKER_02 19:50

Yeah, no, because I got a question for him.

SPEAKER_00 19:52

Tyler, you are live on speakerphone on our podcast.

unknown 19:56

Hey!

SPEAKER_00 19:59

Tyler, I have a question for you.

SPEAKER_02 20:01

Yeah, of course. I seem to call you every single time you're on the podcast.

SPEAKER_00 20:04

And we're talking about you on the podcast right now, so we had to answer.

SPEAKER_02 20:09

All right. Tyler, how do you get a DD player to go out with you?

SPEAKER_01 20:14

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_02 20:15

Uh critical role. You asked them for a D8.

SPEAKER_00 20:22

That was actually pretty good. That's going to my dad joke book. That's our dad joke, and we're taking a break.

SPEAKER_02 20:45

We're skipping the product recommendations. That was our break, our conversation with Tyler. Oh boy. I handed you your character sheet. Uh, my week has been comprised of interviewing a lot of people, and I thought it would be fun to have a fake interview game with you. So I got the top 10 interview questions from theBalanceCareers.com, and I'm gonna make you answer 10 interview questions. What? Assuming this persona. So let's read this persona. Your name is now Nora O'Connor. Great. In high school, you were a Jewel Osco cashier and loved dealing with the public and telling them the benefits of your superior Jewel Osco product. Superior. You're naturally a people person and a gifted communicator, and thought PR would be great for you. After completing college with a degree in public relations, but after a life-altering experience on a road trip to camp under the stars in the Badlands, you decided country living was for you. Yeah, sounds good. To live the country lifestyle, you accepted a position as a rural mail carrier in Sharon, Wisconsin. Did you know I used to wanted to be a mailwoman? I maybe got some help on this one. Oh Thanks, Shannon. Thanks, Shannon. She's like, quit bothering me on Friday mornings. You have a small farmat in picturesque Lynn Township where you raise chicken. And produce. You are also passionate about creating canned pickled concoctions from your produce, as well as being outside in the hot, bright sun.

SPEAKER_01 22:07

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 22:07

You are fond of honoring your Irish heritage by clogging and waving weaving brigand crosses out of various natural materials you find on the farm to sell on Etsy. It's a combination of not you and you. Yes, it is. Your husband, David Squid, P.S. You didn't take his name because you love your Irish name so much. A board game designer who works from home and sells his games via Kickstarter encouraged you to continue to advance your career, seeing your passions for delivering mail safely to people through sleet, snow, hail, and the like. So you advanced to a city route in Delaware. Oh my god! Your husband, as usual, saw something in you that you didn't entirely realize, but he was right, and you are single-purposed about ensuring the mail is delivered. For you, there's nothing like hitting deadlines, seeing the joy on faces as mail is delivered, getting to know the neighborhood doggoes, and of course dispensing treats to them. We know how you love dogs. And the noise of closing a mailbox lid just puts a smile on your face like a bell does for one of Pavlov's dogs. Oh my god, I'm dying. In fact, your talent and skills are so on display, you were recognized as the Wisconsin mail person of the year in 2020. A particularly challenging year. Furthermore, in recognition of your burgeoning leadership skills, you were put into the USPS's Associate Supervisor Program, which teaches and encourages leadership. You passed with the highest score in 13 years, and after completion, you filled in as a supervisor as needed. And now the postmaster position is open in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. You've got one shot, one opportunity to seize everything you've ever wanted. It's your moment! Are you gonna capture it or let it slip? Let's play interview Bridget for Postmaster! Oh, Nick.

SPEAKER_00 23:53

You mean interview Nora O'Connor? I could wrap every lyric to this song. Would you guys like that, listeners? Really proud of you for playing that. Don't sue us, MM.

SPEAKER_02 24:06

Okay, let me uh you you contemplate this character sheet that I spent too long. Way too long, man.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

Way too long.

SPEAKER_02 24:13

But I I had to get you in character. Uh I know when I give you a character, you can do it, but like sometimes coming up the backstory can be uh especially, you know, like with very little knowledge.

SPEAKER_00 24:22

I mean, like when you're at a murder mystery dinner, me and Tyler are your favorite guests. We are bomb at acting at post.

SPEAKER_02 24:28

Uh so a postmaster oversees and leads all aspects of the operation of a United States post office. The specific duties include operations, administration, management, and support tasks. Postmasters train postal employees, handle customer transactions like selling postage or money orders, or collecting post office box rent, supervise mail processing, and explain post office regulations to customers. I will take the uh role of Nick Vorpagel, uh area manager of Postmasters. And uh you're you're Nora O'Connor, aspiring applicant for for the uh the position. So, as I said, we have 10 questions for you to answer. Let's hear your your interviewing skills. My palms are sweaty. Uh what about mom spaghetti? But literally, my palms are sweaty. I don't know my character well enough. Okay. I I know, I mean, according to Shannon, this was your dream. It really was something I wanted to do.

SPEAKER_00 25:24

So every time I go to the post office, I'm like, I'd be better at this job. I've never made it, you guys.

SPEAKER_02 25:30

My grandfather was a longtime post office person. Uh my dad worked a rule carrier route for a couple years, so I have it in my blood, so I feel like I can channel this role.

SPEAKER_00 25:38

Wow, I don't have it in my blood.

SPEAKER_02 25:41

Well, Nora, tell me about yourself.

SPEAKER_00 25:44

Oh, fucking hate this question. Oh, I'm sorry. Am I in the interview now? What a great question. Well, um I I can't do this. I'm so nervous because I don't know my background, you guys. Did I live in a city ever, Nick? No. No, okay. I have well, I live in Lynn Township and I have this farm that I tend to every day. I love spending time in the yard, especially in the bright sun, um with my chickens. But my real passion is making pickled concoctions. So I've spent a lot of time cultivating my garden and my animals, and it's really taught me a lot about responsibility. And I know it sounds silly, but leadership as well. I have to lead those chickens. And then I've had to learn, I taught myself canning. And if you ever had my canned pickles, you know how good they are. I brought you a jar. Here you go. Wow, thank you. Yeah, I, you know, I've always taught, I was always taught to be a good hostess and bring a gift along. So I couldn't leave without you having my famous pickled concoctions.

SPEAKER_02 26:52

I love this. Uh, thank you so much. You know, I love to start with this question. Too many people just read me their resume. I don't want to read your resume. I already read it. I am so glad to get to know you as a person, Nora. I love pickles. I think, you know, what an incredible connection we have. Well, I can't wait to hear what you think about mine. Now, I, you know, enough about pickles, which are a common thread we share. But tell me, why are you the best person for this God-trusted role of postmaster of Lake Geneva?

SPEAKER_00 27:26

Well, um, I was taking notes as you were discussing discussing the position. Um, it sounds like it requires a lot of managing and organizing. And honestly, sometimes I have to nag people to pay their dang P.O. boxes. Um, so, like I mentioned, these chickens of mine, really important. So they lay eggs every day. Did you know that? No, I didn't. I know every day. Wow. And I have um so many chickens. So I have to collect their eggs every day. And I have a system where I collect the eggs and I bring them in, and in my refrigerator, I have them organized from newest to oldest because I also sell them on the side. Oh, wow. In addition to selling my eggs, I sell creations on Etsy. So I would say I already own my own small business. So what I'm doing here with the postmaster position is taking all the skills I've learned by creating my passion into a small business and I'm bringing it over to my next passion, which I learned by way of my loving husband, mail carrying. I didn't know that it was such a passion of mine. I thought simply selling my weaved goods on Etsy and my chickens' eggs was enough for me, but mail carrying is really where my passion has lied. So taking my skills from my own small businesses and taking my skills from mail carrying, putting those together, I think that I can manage a post office better than anyone ever has.

SPEAKER_02 28:55

Holy cow. I know. Have you ever that is I don't know. Anybody that has this incredibly unique mixture of passion experience. Wow. Wow. Wow, wow, wow. So tell me, why do you want this job?

SPEAKER_00 29:11

Well, that's a great question. I need to read and I'll tell you why. Oh, do you know why? Why? Do you want to know more about my passion? I do. One of my most favorite things, I love being organized and making sure everything is on time.

SPEAKER_02 29:27

Is one of your favorite things brown paper packages wrapped up in string?

SPEAKER_00 29:31

Brown paper packages. Yes, it is. I also love to sing Wow. Wow, perfect for the post office. So you know what? Mail, if it is not delivered on time, I know that it just makes people so angry. It makes me angry when things are late. I I don't know about you, but I think it's important to hit deadlines. And there is nothing more satisfying than seeing the smile on someone's face when I arrive on time with their mail. So being the postmaster means I would control all of that. And I would make sure that everything happens in a timely fashion. And really, I truly think as long as your customers' expectations are being hit, then we are all set. So I'm here to make sure that happens.

SPEAKER_02 30:16

How has your experience prepared you for this role?

SPEAKER_00 30:20

Oh, well, back to the chickens. Um, so I don't like to talk about this much, but uh there was, you know, in back in 2020 when things were particularly challenging. We don't talk about 2020. I actually really excelled in my career because I I saw a challenge and I rose to the occasion, and I was actually awarded um male person of the year in Wisconsin. Wow. I know so that is very prestigious. It really meant a lot that other people saw all of my hard work from the eggs to the Etsy shop and my mail carrying career. It all culminated. And I think that um having someone else recognize that really truly shows how qualified I am for this position.

SPEAKER_02 31:08

Why are you leaving your current job?

SPEAKER_00 31:11

What's my current job? My small farmette?

SPEAKER_02 31:15

My Etsy shop? Your city route in Delvin.

SPEAKER_00 31:18

Oh, I thought we were past that. Right, Delavin. So sorry, forgot about that. Well, I don't, I think that staying stagnant in my career. Uh I I, you know, I'm always looking for the next challenge. And I'm wondering how I can grow and where I can share my skills. And I've learned a lot at my city route in Delivin. I came from a rural route to a city route, and this this is the next step in my evolving career.

SPEAKER_02 31:42

What is your greatest strength?

SPEAKER_00 31:45

I hate these interview questions. What a great question. Yet again. Um, my greatest strength is my commitment to timeliness, Nick. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 31:58

That is very important at the post office.

SPEAKER_00 32:00

You know what? It is important in my personal life and at the post office. And I just think that if you can do it in your personal life, you can do it in your job, and you can see on my resume by how qualified I have been, and I've I've continued to get promoted. So the timeliness aspect has clearly been uh been awarded by my other superior bosses, and now they have recommended this to be my next move because of how timely I am.

unknown 32:27

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 32:28

Yeah. Now those sound like that's just your timeliness sounds like an incredible strength, but I have to ask the corollary. Yeah. What is your greatest weakness? And don't say you care too much because uh I'm not gonna fall for that.

SPEAKER_00 32:40

Oh, that's so funny, Nicholas. Um, my greatest weakness is sometimes when I was on my routes, I would spend too much time with those beautiful dogs I would encounter. Doggos. Yeah. So I really had to learn to budget. I brought treats with me, so my bag was even heavier. I bought them with my own money, these treats, uh, because you know it would be illegal to spend the taxpayers' dollar on and so I did have to learn to budget my time between making the customers happy and the dogs, and really just do the job of ensuring the mail is there on time. So I've learned a lot of budgeting of my time because of that.

SPEAKER_02 33:20

You did an incredible job of taking that and flipping around into a strength. Wow. That is a skill of mine in an interview. Now, what I want to know next, because this can be very stressful. You know, people want their mail, long lines, understaffing, your trucks are uh not working right. How do you handle stress and pressure? Are you a sweaty palm type of person, or are you as cool as one of those cucumbers you turn into pickles?

SPEAKER_00 33:43

Well, Nick, I like to drink on the job. Just kidding. Do we joke here? Is this a place we can joke? Cucumber water? I've lost all control of this interview. I don't know, and my palms are sweaty.

SPEAKER_02 34:04

Move on. What are your salary expectations?

SPEAKER_00 34:08

Oh, a cool five mil. Well, Nick, I do this because I love the job. I still would like to be paid $300,000 in a full benefits package, please.

SPEAKER_02 34:21

Is that in line what you're looking for? Well, median pay for this position is $79,000. So we Oh, that's close enough. We can negotiate. It'll be based on government scale.

SPEAKER_00 34:32

The joy it brings me fills the gap between $79 and $300. Perfectly fine. And the chickens.

SPEAKER_02 34:39

And my pickles. I have one last question for you. Good. Am I doing well? And that is what are your goals for the future?

SPEAKER_00 34:46

Oh gosh, what a great question, Nick. I want your job in the future. I hope you get to retire one day and hang out with your doggos and eat my pickles. And when that happens, I hope I'm considered for your role. Thanks so much. Do you have any questions for me? Sure. Yeah, Nick, are you close to retirement?

SPEAKER_02 35:07

Well, can I ask all the illegal questions? I did my 20 years in the military. Oh, yes. And then I picked up this job as a super qualified person. Super qualified. And so I'm double dipping on the pension situation. So yeah, I need to make it to 52, and I'm almost done.

SPEAKER_00 35:20

That is my goal to double dip on the pension. So I'm so looking forward to this. Um, thanks so much, Nick. When can I be hearing from you for my job offer?

SPEAKER_02 35:31

Well, this is a government position. We've had it posted for three months. Great. We need another two months. And then we'll have our third round of interviews. And if you do that well and you pass the test and uh we get clearance to approve your position from Congress, you can take the position in about 13 days.

SPEAKER_00 35:49

Great. I'll I'll bring pickles for everyone. Well, that was weird. Did you like the interview? I'm dying. Um, yeah, that was good. I hope you all see my superior interviewing skills.

SPEAKER_02 36:01

So I thought you, you know, I've I I interviewed you. You did a great job in that interview. That was hilarious segment. The uh the balancecareers.com. Tell top interview questions, best answers. They had some s suggestions. I mean, you did a good job. Uh thanks. I hate interviews as a boss. I hate them so much because they're a crapshoot. You can tell in I think you can tell in the first like five minutes. So our goal, we always I always start with tell me about yourself. So I I I mean, I'm gonna spill the beans and how we do interviews. If you listen to the podcast apply, you're gonna be ahead of the curve. So I like to And we're proud of you. I like to do uh I s you know, I said welcome. Thanks for coming. Like to start by providing you um a structure of how this is gonna go. Oh, that's right. It's gonna take us about 30 minutes. I want to make sure we're all on the same page. Does that sound like a good way to start? That's stressful because if it doesn't take 30 minutes, you're like shit. To say yep, because if you don't say yep at that point, you're just gonna leave. So bye. So we're gonna start by giving you an overview of the company, explaining where everybody fits in so you understand some context on that. That's good. Then we're gonna go over the job. Uh obviously we posted the job online, you read that when you applied, but we want to talk about it, make sure we're all on the same page there so we understand what if it's a good fit for you, and make sure you know what you're getting into going forward. Then we have some questions we'd like to ask you to get to know you a little bit. After that, we have time to see if you have questions for us about the position, yeah, company where you'd fit in. After that, we can talk about compensation and benefits and explain the process going forward. Well, that sound like a good way to go.

SPEAKER_00 37:33

That's that's nicer than most interviews that's.

SPEAKER_02 37:36

So you get rapport going, everybody feels relaxed, everybody feels like you know, we have some degree of understanding before you start. Takes down the adversarial nature of it a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 37:45

I mean, has that worked?

unknown 37:46

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:46

And so then, you know, I talk about how my grandparents started the business where I fit in, make a little joke about how much my grandpa hated doing retail stuff. I'm very clear that we still kill things because some people like don't realize that, and I just say straight up, we kill stuff. You're gonna see a live cow walk in and then not see it be alive again. And not everybody realizes that. Yeah, if you can't handle that, that is totally fine. We respect that, but we just like to be upfront about that. Have you seen people just be like, oh, yeah, we had one just like, oh, I didn't realize that. I don't think I can do that. We're like, cool. You don't have to kill them. I mean, we're clear about that, but and then uh, you know, go through the job. Uh, we I always start with tell me about yourself. And I say, one of the things we're really proud at, like Geneva Country meets about, is our staff. And we think we have a good group of people that like working together and support each other. So we want to know about you as a person and figure out if we think you would fit in with our group because that's really important to us. And if we want to hire you, we want to make sure we know about you and we can partner you with someone that maybe has some similar interests and personality to really set you up for success at the start. Look at you. So, you know, and then basically it's just I want you to talk, like you said, you can tell in five minutes. I want to have you talk for five minutes so we can figure out if you are a basically company. Competent human human being or not. You're not gonna be entirely qualified for a job. You're not yeah, but uh we like to hear you we ask you about cooking, and if you don't have a good answer for that, it's probably not gonna work. Yeah. And the good answer might be, you know what? I don't really cook a lot.

SPEAKER_00 39:16

Yes, I was like, I think about this a lot in my country.

SPEAKER_02 39:18

My wife cooks, and I really know that I like this, but I'm willing to learn. Yeah, that's fine. Or, you know, you might say, I'm more of a slow cooker person, and we can say, Oh, that's cool. We got you know cool, we got a lot of that. So and then uh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:29

I always I Nick and I have talked about this. I always want to know the one question I always ask is, what do you do outside of work? And I have literally had people say nothing. And I'm like, come on. And then I've had people say, I play with my cats. I'm like, okay, cool, catch. Tell me about your catch cat lady, you know, yeah. But it tells it tells to me so much about a person. Like, do you have a family? Like questions you can't ask, but you can get it this way, kind of. And do you have hobbies? Do you sit at home and play video games? I don't know, whatever. So, and anyway, it's very interesting to me. It's my fave.

SPEAKER_02 39:58

You know, some of these questions are better for um career oriented. Career. What are your goals for the future? I don't really care. Yeah, I mean. I mean, I care. I'll figure out eventually, and like if we can support you, we will. But yeah. What is your greatest strength and what is your greatest weakness? If anybody truly asks those questions on an interview, it's just an asshole check, right? It's did you prepare for these questions?

SPEAKER_00 40:21

I truly think I've been in interviews a hundred times that I've asked those questions. And it's just like I think. And I always switch the weakness into a strength.

SPEAKER_02 40:28

If you if you are asking those questions seriously as an interviewer, it's because you're lazy or because you're just out thinking things and you're like, I don't really care what the answer is. I just want to make sure you have one. If you're not prepared for tell me about yourself and what's your greatest strength and what's your greatest weakness, you're not prepared.

SPEAKER_00 40:41

Yep. I have 100% been in interviews where I've seen in the like pad folio a piece of paper that had a URL at the top, which was clearly someone that printed off like interview questions. And I'm like, okay, I got offered the job. I was like, yeah, this is the you have no, I could be interviewing you. But anyway, I love interviews. It's where I excel. I mean, maybe notwithstanding today. Nora excelled. I don't know much about my mail route. I forgot I was a mail carrier in Delavin. Anyway, that was fun. Nick, you're, you know, this rotating segment is just gonna be yours. I mean, if you want to flip the tables and interview me. I know, I might have to. Feel free. Oh, okay, good times. Um, I'm really proud of what I made to eat. I know. Are you so proud of it?

SPEAKER_02 41:24

I'm so confused about you, Bridget. What's happening? It's been about a month of like, did you?

SPEAKER_00 41:28

No, it's like one day a week, but so like four times. But still, that's I know. I so I always we love Asian foods in our house, and I'm always so angry when we order them to go, you know, from for takeout. I'm like, this is so easy to make. It's just like noodles and vegetables in a sauce. So I finally like I had bought Lomain noodles, I had my fun noodles, and I'm like, Tyler. Lomain's delicious. What do you want? And um we I made a veggie lomain. That's all I'm saying. Like, I can't tell you it was so stupid easy. It was just like make the noodles, you know, boil noodles, saute the veggies, add the sauce that was like three ingredients, and you mixed it. The end. And it was so damn good, and you know, way cheaper than takeout and also healthier because I know everything that was in it. Did you add MSG? I didn't. Well, that was your first mistake. Can you just buy MSG? Yeah, Joey send you home with some. I didn't end MSG. Or add MSG. Why do I want to add it?

SPEAKER_02 42:20

Just boom, upset savouriness. I'm assuming you had some mushrooms in there.

SPEAKER_00 42:23

Bro, do you even know me? I didn't have fucking mushrooms in there. Tyler loves them. I had, I well, I mean. I had like peppers, broccoli, carrots. Yeah, you should have added some little MSG. Yeah, I it was soy sauce brown.

SPEAKER_02 42:38

I mean, soy sauce has a degree of it.

SPEAKER_00 42:39

And sesame oil.

SPEAKER_01 42:40

Oh, that's delicious.

SPEAKER_00 42:41

It was so good. It was so easy. What type of sesame oil? I don't know. What do you mean? What type of sesame oil? They sell it in the Asian area. It was dark. I don't know. It was like next to all the low-mein noodles in the store. Tell Young you need some sesame oil. I know. I mean, I'm like, I have just like the basic fish sauce, the basic sesame. You know, I buy whatever they have at the grocery store, so I have all of it. I'm just now gonna make Asian food at home. So easy. Okay, I thought you'd be proud of me.

SPEAKER_02 43:09

I made basically all of Bridget's favorite things.

SPEAKER_00 43:13

I know. That was a beautiful picture.

SPEAKER_02 43:15

Chicken, tacos. And tacos. So street corn. So I made up some street corn, and then uh we took some frozen corn, uh, sauteed it, gave it a good uh searing. Yes. So a little burnt on the one side, seasoned it up, tossed in some lime juice, set that aside, took some chicken breast, chopped it up, fried it to get crispy on one side, or chicken taco meat, had a crema, some avocados, tossed it all together, a lotate chicken taco meat. The picture was beautiful. They were so good, so good. Yes. I was like, oh man, oh man. I texted the picture to you and I said, start the outline. This is all we need to talk about.

SPEAKER_00 43:58

And I said, Bro, I already started. It because I wanted to add my lomain.

SPEAKER_02 44:01

The um, but I was really like, oh, I should have had some for Bridget. We ate all of them. Yeah, asshole. Sorry.

SPEAKER_00 44:08

Not feeding me. I I forgot I had leftover lomain the other day, so I had it for lunch.

SPEAKER_02 44:11

The bonus kit corner to this is Simona helped me with the photography.

SPEAKER_00 44:15

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:15

And so she the reason why this chair is out of place there. Oh it's funny, I didn't even notice that. So I brought everything down on a tray, and she helped me. She actually was fairly helpful in turning on lights and like opening doors for me. Nice. Thank you. She's starting to be kind of a helper. I said, thank you so much, Simona. I really appreciate it. You can go upstairs and eat now. Mommy has a taco for you. I said, no, I I help daddy. So she decided her version of so there's a hey the table we photograph on is waist high. Uh so she obviously can't do much there, but then I have a lower table that I keep like the tray on to put stuff and stage it. And so I was photographing and she was watching and helping. And then I started seeing a hand reach into all the bowls and just start grabbing like a little chicken, a little cheese, a little whatever. She took a lime and ate a lime. Whoa. I'm like, girlfriend, do you just want to make a taco bar? Oh, cute. Look at her working. So she just uh grabbed the uh tray, moved it over to our table where we record the podcast here and made herself a taco bar.

SPEAKER_00 45:20

Well, maybe she wants to be on the podcast, Nick. I mean, she, I think, just wanted to eat her tacos. Actually, it'd be so funny if we had both of them on for Kid Corner one day. We should. Most days at daycare, she just looks scared of me. That means we haven't been down here enough, I guess. Or like, why are you here and not at my house?

SPEAKER_02 45:36

You know, like when kids see adults out of place, it's so funny. I saw Max yesterday and he definitely's like, Yeah, why are you in my classroom?

SPEAKER_00 45:44

I know, I know you, but why are you here? Anyway, that's a perfect transition to kid corner. Do you need to go with your other one right away? Yeah, I'll go with my other one. Were you about to put on like a crying sound? No, no, no.

SPEAKER_02 45:56

I was gonna put on uh mom spaghetti again. Um so I planted 50 pine trees on Monday night. Uh took me about three hours. Gross. Uh, but it's been kind of a rainy week, so it's like a perfect time to get the pine trees in. Got these little pine kind of a rainy week. Um so got the pine trees in. And that meant, you know, like I was not home that day, more or less. Yeah. Uh, because I was like, hey guys, good to see ya. I gotta keep climbing these trees before it's 8 30 and too dark to see. And like, I gotta clean up and you know. So, but Simone obviously was playing outside. She wants to come over, and the pine trees are like six to eight inches tall, let's say. They're little uh bare root saplings. And she comes over, she goes, Daddy planting baby trees. And she's calling them baby trees. And I said, Yeah, do you want to help? So she helped, you know, with uh spreading some mulch around them, but she gave them kisses to help the baby trees grow. So all those baby trees got kisses from Simona.

SPEAKER_00 46:52

Oh, she said, grow baby tree. Are they growing? Did they listen?

SPEAKER_02 46:58

I mean, I'll spend three days. But I hope so. I mean, a lot of them are gonna die, probably, because like that's just kind of how it goes with these things. Is it? Oh, you know, you got like a two-third success rate. Survival rate. So uh, but Simona kissed baby trees. Uh is very cute. Oh. She was very insistent on helping with the mulching. Uh so good job.

SPEAKER_00 47:18

Good job gardening. You want to come plant my shit at my house?

SPEAKER_02 47:21

She's uh yeah, she likes being outside. And then Oh, that's funny. So it's I think two out of three weeks we've had a Simona doing some type of outdoor labor story. It's not child labor, everyone.

SPEAKER_00 47:32

Don't worry. It's legal and closely held family businesses. Um, I did just see Unrelated as we were sitting here, something pop up about a family that let their six-year-old run a full marathon. I haven't read the full article, but uh speaking of child labor, I just want to read it and be like, oh, before I judge, like, but shit. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 47:50

Is a kid Ethiopian? No. Because I mean, like it looks like it could be my kid.

SPEAKER_00 47:55

Ooh. I mean, it won't be my kid ever, but you know.

SPEAKER_02 47:58

Because genetically, they're more set up for the nope. Nope, definitely not. What's it like? It's a single plateau, like in Ethiopia that all the elite ones come from.

SPEAKER_00 48:06

Really? Yeah. Have you not? I I thought you would- I mean, no, I know what you're talking about, but I don't know. Generally, I've got to be a little bit more.

SPEAKER_02 48:11

There's like some weird like genetic pool in this very small specific area.

SPEAKER_00 48:14

It just feels like I'd get in trouble for talking about that, so I just don't I think it's fascinating.

SPEAKER_02 48:19

This is um I feel like in Lake Geneva there's a weird genetic pool for like disappointing parents and being a massive fuck up.

SPEAKER_00 48:26

This kid is named Rainier, Rainier, so I guess I would think they're from Washington, but actually the race was in Cincinnati, so I'm not actually sure where they're from or not there yet. Rainier. The whole family ran in, it looks like.

SPEAKER_02 48:38

Um, Kentucky family at center of controversy after six-year-old runs in marathon.

SPEAKER_00 48:44

That kid? Yeah, six years old. I don't think they meant okay, anyway, I don't know. Oh, a two-time Olympian long distance runner was those oh, just kidding. Uh okay, anyway, I have no idea. So that was not my kid corner, because that's not my kid. This family needs to break the cycle. I I okay, I can't read everything I want to about it right now. I'm here to talk to you about boogers. I feel like it's been a really long time since like remember when we started Kid Corner as a way to like make other parents feel better for our kids doing disgusting things? Well, I'm back to help you. So, um Elliot has a super runny nose right now. Apparently, I volunteered in his school, and apparently there's that's going around again right now. I don't know. I never know cycles of sickness now, since like masks aren't a thing. So, anyway, we like I'm watching him sneeze or blow, you know, not blow his nose and just take his sleeve and rub it all the way across his face. So the other day before school, I'm like, Ellie, you gotta go wash your face, man. You've got like crusty boogers all over. Okay, mom. So we go in the bathroom and he's like washing off his face, whatever. And then he just starts getting so angry because he washed one cheek. And then he's like, What is on my face? And he's like ripping at his face, and I'm like, Those are boogers, you know, and we get in a fight about this, and he it we're just at a moment where he wants to be really independent. He does not want me to tell him what the fuck to do, and he does not want mom like licking boogers off his face. And so he just didn't want to believe me when I was like, These are boogers. No, they're not, mom. It's crusted on my face, Elliot. That's what happens, but you know, and so anyway, it was just a fun moment of hey everybody, when you have boys that are six-year-old and trying to be fiercely independent, you're gonna get in a fight with them about boogers that are crusted onto their face. Not poop like Lucy's still, but boogers. Boogers are boys are gross. You know what? Lucy's gonna do it too, let's be honest. Kids. So, whatever gross things your kid did, ours probably did too. And we'll get back to talking about gross kid things. That's that. Did you like that deep breath? I did. Oh man, sorry, really have to go to the bathroom.

SPEAKER_02 50:54

So well on that note, we'll keep this brief. We hope you have a great week, everybody. Oh, yeah, happy Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day, Bridget. Thanks.

SPEAKER_00 51:02

You know, the crossing card at school wished me happy Mother's Day. It was so sweet. She was standing out in the pouring rain. I'm like, Do you want my umbrella? She said, No, it's just water. Bless her. Her name's Nancy. She's really nice to me now. Anyway, happy Mother's Day to all the moms, aunts, mom figures. And we're thinking of all the moms that might be struggling with anything on this Mother's Day if you have lost your mom or grandma or whatever. So there you go.

SPEAKER_02 51:29

Have a great week, everybody. You know where you can find us. Check out the show notes for all the stories about nerdy things. And um, yeah. Have a great week. Bye bye.