Drinkin' & Thinkin'

Jon Wade: 30 year law man and long time friend joins us to share a glimpse of some of his highlights throughout his career. It's inevitable that the conversation will bring in some of the topics/issues facing us today and we get a little political, but, soon shift to the life and career of Mr. Wade. Now with Team Wade of Link Brokerages (plug), getting to this point in life has been a journey he wouldn't change. His career as a police officer didn't change him and his experience in life has made him into a pretty decent human. While Jon made RSO a better place, and we'd all like to see him promote up through the ranks, his time was up and the recent events made it clear it was time to move on.  The last decade Jon and Nicole have planned on retiring in Maui and when the time came to sail off into the sunset they did just that...As life often does a curveball was thrown and the life they had dreamed of wasn't the best fit for the family. With family being the top priority they soon realized their dreams didn't fit with their kids dreams and, as parents often do, they decided to put their dream on hold and move back to California.  With the police force all but a memory and their plans on paddle boarding in Maui on hold, the next chapter is beginning; Jon, Nicole, and Kelly have entered the real estate business and Team Wade is now official!  A refreshing perspective of a retired police officer, family man, and now Realtor! 

If Trevor is any indication of what the future has in store, I will hold out hope a little while longer. He is a recent graduate from SDSU and has been accepted to USD where he will pursue a law degree. Trevor see’s the world with a rose colored lens while Rick, Chad and I have had our lenses scratched, cracked and faded. While we all didn’t agree on everything it was interesting to hear the perspective of a 22 year old with a fresh start to life. The trials and experiences have jaded the way we see the world and Trevor wanted no part of our cynicism. Like the great future attorney he will be, he asked us questions that would either solidify our beliefs or make us question our understanding of the positions we held. Seemingly simple questions made us scramble for life experiential answers while Trever reverted to intellectual dogma. I don’t feel we were wrong in our uneducated attempts at answering his questions, but, we surely didn’t seem to agree with his spin on the educated version. As Trevor’s Uncle it was great to have a conversation with him as an adult. I still view all of my nieces and nephews as the little kids they were and forget they have grown up and have become thoughtful adults. Trevor has a solid head on his shoulders and he has a bright future ahead of him. He is an old soul and takes time to think through his answers. He is articulate in speech and thoughtful in his approach; I found myself just looking at him as if I was just meeting him for the first time. It was strange to see this person I’ve known all my life have thoughts, beliefs, and opinions that were all his own; he obviously hasn’t adopted his uncles tainted view of world and I hope he never does. Being able to disagree on thoughts and beliefs while still be agreeable seems to be a lost art. Different viewpoints make for great conversation and those differences should be celebrated, not silenced. Hopefully Trevor is able to hold on to his rose colored lens as he journeys through life, as our lenses have seemed to have dimmed over the years. The future holds great things for this young man and I'm excited to watch him navigate the journey of life.

The journey of a rock star is a “…long and winding road…” and Curt  has traveled to the end and back. However, with every journey there is a  crossroad where one needs to choose which way to go, in Curt's case it  was the choice of continuing the  journey or pulling off and being a family man…in this caae it was an  easy choice. He relives his journey with us and tells us how he got his  start, the different bands he had the pleasure of playing with, the  different venues he played (from all the clubs  in Hollywood, to Lalapalooza, and touring with Joe Walsh). Chad was in  his comfort zone when it came to music and he and Curt reminisce about  years past and the different musicians, friends and bands; it was fun to  listen to both of them go back and fourth  about it all. We, know “Chaddy" as the family man “Curt" who is an all around  humble genuine human, loving father to Bailey and Coby and loving  husband to his wonderful wife April. Curt talks about the tail end of  his touring days and his peek behind the proverbial  curtain, while traveling with Joe Walsh, and how the decision to step  off the tour bus to be there for his family was an easy one. With his kids grown Curt journey is continuing on and the band is  back together. The ambitions to get signed are a thing of the past, now  he and his band mates are all there for the fun of it…I look forward to  the reunion show!!

The Baja Peninsula is famed for it’s 50+ year history of the Baja 1000,  500 and 250. Not a house hold name to most, but, the legends of Baja are  in a league of their own; Espo is one of those legends. There is a  mystique south of the border that very few get to experience, but, for  those lucky enough to experience it…they get it. Shane brings us back to where it all started and explains how he got  started on the path to becoming one of the best there is. Growing up  like any kid in the 80’s he was not groomed for motocross, he played  normal sports and didn’t get serious about it until he was forced to  turn pro. Like most moto kids, or sports kids in general, there is a  support system that is needed to be able to push through. We get a quick  glance into Shane's parents and how his dad gave him the opportunity to  make the choice on what he wanted to do; however, once that choice was  made it was all or nothing. Unlike today, there were opportunities to  jump around from local races and make a pretty good living, and Shane  was content with that. He has been called a 70 percenter, and he doesn’t  contest it. Knowing he has the talent to stack #1 plates, he is content  with the grind as giving 100% would have taken him on a completely  different path. Knowing Shane, and seeing first hand his ability, his  70% most riders 150%…so it makes sense that he’s still able to do what  he done while not giving it everything. Shane is a humble workhorse and is willing to throw his leg over a bike  to help teams win. He may not be the rider of record, but, his record  speaks for itself. One of my favorite is him finishing the Baja 1000 in  first and second place as he rode nearly 700 miles for two different  teams…insane! His talent provided him the opportunity to race the ultimate off-road  race, the Dakar Rally where he held his own and finished in the top 20.  While this is respectable in any case, this is also after a 2 hour  penalty on day 1. While most train for years to be able to race Dakar  Mr. 70% was drinking beers with us on New Years eve, hadn’t asked for  the time off from his day job, and wasn’t even sure he was going to  board the plane on Jan 2. To finish Dakar is respectable, to finish top  20 is impressive…to do it with no training tells you everything you need  to know about this guy. Like always there was much we didn’t talk about so next time we’ll dig a little deeper...

You will absolutely love our next guest. The guys interview Chad's dad retired firefighter, and Vietnam war veteran Mr. Paul Hilzer. Paul unpacks his stories from being on a submarine for a 65 day stint during Vietnam, and the cold war, to his experiences being a firefighter during the LA riots. This guy has seen, and experienced it all. You won't be disappointed.

Politics aside, The guys welcomed the talented down to earth Lee koch as he takes the guys on journey into dissecting his music career. Lee talks about the industries interference, with artists, who he's toured with and some great dramatic stories along the way. As a bonus he reflects on a bizarre experience he had with Christina Aguilera when he was a contestant on the tv show the voice. Lee closes us out with a kickass song!

Ted Hill’s in the house! Long time friend stops by the think tank to share his resume. From Douglas aircraft to hobby photographer. Ted reminds the guys of a much more simpler time, and life. Strap in for Ted as he gives is take on the world as we know it. 

Right out the gate, Rick mistakenly introduces Stefani the first female guest to grace the podcast as Allison. That’s how it starts. As the show ventures on, Stefani, wife to previous guest Scott Myers. A healthcare worker Stefani shares her take on the current dilemma with vaccine mandates. Eventually the conversation evolves into buddy stories. Throughout the cast you can hear Chad acting kinda funny. This podcast is officially titled “The donkey show” tune in to find out why.

Troy “Shroy” a friend of the guys, and passionate golfer arrived with a collection of whiskeys. Chad opts out on the drinkfest. First bottle down the hatch, Rick educates everyone on the origins, and art of bourbon. Trailing on the conversation “swings” into their love of golf. As their pallets go numb they reflect on their lives and success. Eventually Kreg tiptoes into politics but they quickly put it away, and talk local shit. “Shout out” to all companies mentioned in this drinkcast!

The guys regroup to gather their thoughts on a variety of subjects.