1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,520 Thank you, Abraham. I'm Stuart. I'm an alcoholic and everybody should know somebody named Abraham. 2 00:00:05,520 --> 00:00:14,160 And now I do, right? I'm to the point now that everything reminds me of a story. And if I'm 3 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:18,320 telling a story, it's going to remind me of five more stories. So there could be these shortage of 4 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:24,160 material here. But last, there I was, so there I was this morning at the taking your sponsor to 5 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:29,680 breakfast thing. It was sold out, completely sold out. 300 people. It was a great event, 6 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:37,120 great in the respect that I get to see a lot of people that I know and love and respect and 7 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:44,400 people come from. I saw Dusty Brojas. He came down from, he moved to like farm, 8 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:49,360 farmland up there in central California. I think it's Springville or one of those, 9 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:56,000 one of those cow towns, right? And he and his lovely wife, Laura, they moved up there and he 10 00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:02,880 says, "Stu," he says, "I can sit on my couch and I can look at a cow." Okay, how long can you do 11 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:08,720 that? I mean, really? That's not a good reason to move to Springville or Springdale or Springville. 12 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:14,400 I don't know what it's called, but they've always been very gracious to me and to Diane. 13 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:21,360 Thank you for greeting me, Karen, your speaker greeter. She very graciously greeted me and 14 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:26,800 inquired about my wife, Diane. Some of you know Diane. You don't allow profanity from this 15 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:36,400 podium, do you? No? None at all? Okay, I'll have to make do. Okay, yeah. So my daughter has two years 16 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:42,640 of inappropriate relationships. Now I realize that children don't tell their parents everything. I 17 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:48,160 know that. And me slash parents don't tell their children everything either. But she started dating 18 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:54,480 this guy and he was completely different from anybody that she had ever dated, right? I mean, 19 00:01:54,480 --> 00:02:01,040 he's a tall guy, bigger guy than me. He's all tatted up. He's got like a red beard and like 20 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:05,680 totally fit and everything. And he said, "Stuart, I want to come take you to lunch." I said, "I want 21 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:11,920 to take you to lunch." And my daughter did not know about this at all. But we went to lunch and 22 00:02:11,920 --> 00:02:16,480 local and he told me something. He told me this story. His name is Brandon. And he told me this 23 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:21,200 story. And he's got like 15 years of sobriety. And these young people, a lot of them, they get 24 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:25,520 together on the dating site, you know, because that's how people, the young people, meet each 25 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:30,720 other these days. And so he came to me and took me to lunch. And he said, "Old school." He says, 26 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:35,360 "I want to ask you for your daughter's hand in there." This is an old school guy. And I really, 27 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:40,480 really appreciate that. I really respect it. And he told me this story. They started dating, 28 00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:46,080 dating for a number of months. And she was still drinking. And he went to her. My daughter's name 29 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:51,200 is Dana. And he said, "I really love you. And I want to get married and make a home and have 30 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:56,560 children. But the way you're drinking, I can't be with you." So he rolled the dice. He put 31 00:02:56,560 --> 00:03:02,880 everything on the table. And he said, "The dam just burst." She started crying. And she just 32 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:07,520 surrendered all of it right there, right then and there. They're married now. They have kind of a 33 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:12,320 long engagement, but only two years. They're phenomenally successful, both of them. You can 34 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:17,440 only imagine how grateful I am to alcoholics and others. Because if you love your children, 35 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:21,680 Karen doesn't love their children or want their best for their children, right? Of course, 36 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:26,000 that's what I would want. Now, my son, I think he's getting ready. I think he's getting ready 37 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:32,880 for us. But if I had sat down and written a movie script, it couldn't have come up. And, oh, and you 38 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:37,200 mentioned that Karen, you mentioned something, oh, is the druggie bookie coming, right? And the 39 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:42,960 funny thing is, when we first came to alcoholics and others, they took us on one of those funny 40 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:48,160 white vans, right? They take you out to meetings, right? And my wife and I used to ride in that van, 41 00:03:48,160 --> 00:04:02,240 and now she's driving that van because now she works for my son-in-law. His group of investors, 42 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:07,760 they own like a dozen treatment facilities, alcoholics and others treatment facilities, 43 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:13,040 right? I mean, obviously AA is not affiliated, but, and she absolutely loves the work. She 44 00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:19,040 loves it because she gets exposure to the newcomers. She gets to, and she works at night. 45 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:23,840 She works late at night because that's when she has the most contact with the newcomers. And 46 00:04:23,840 --> 00:04:31,760 that's what she absolutely loves about it. And I'm so proud. I'm so overpaid. My life is so beautiful 47 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:36,400 because of alcoholics. Okay. I guess I should mention something. What, what, what, what it was, 48 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:41,600 what I was like, what happened and what I'm like now. Okay. I grew up, I grew up in, oh, 49 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:48,400 the speaker this morning, his name was Ron W and he was from Watts, 89th and Normandy. So, 50 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:56,480 after being in Los Angeles, my birth certificate says Los Angeles, rural. You know how long I've 51 00:04:56,480 --> 00:05:00,880 been around. So, I just went up to, at the end, we used to thank the speaker. I just went up to 52 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:05,200 say Ron and 104th and Van Ness. They started laughing. I said, you know exactly what I'm 53 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:09,680 talking about. Yeah. That's like the same area. I grew up in the same area that he grew up in and 54 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:15,520 it was brutal and profane. And that's got nothing to do with my drink. I drank because I liked the 55 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:22,080 effect. I like getting my head tight. I like feeling no pain. I like feeling cool and relaxed. 56 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:29,600 I like the effect. I like the rush. I like the effect of alcohol. 1979, I met my wife over the 57 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:33,920 telephone. My mother worked at the racetrack, Santa Anita and Hollywood Park for many years. 58 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:38,080 She was one of them out there. Her name was Polly. My mother's name was Polly. And I adored her 59 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:44,800 because I didn't have a father really. My father was an alcoholic, a crazy alcoholic, absentee 60 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:57,920 alcoholic. So, she met my wife. Diane, my wife, knew my mother before she knew me. So, my mother 61 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:04,080 was a natural born marketing person. And she says, oh, my son makes a lot of money and he'll spend 62 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:10,000 it on you. Here's his business card. Give him a call. Right. And natural marketing person. So, 63 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:15,200 and my mother called me up. She says, I met this girl out at the racetrack. She's very pretty, 64 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:19,920 but I don't think she's very bright, which is exactly what a young guy wants to hear. Right. 65 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:25,520 And of course, of course, I'm still drinking. So, we went on a couple of barn dates. I had lost my 66 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:31,120 license at the time because I figured out if I, if I, if I just drink at home, I'll stop getting 67 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:35,760 arrested. Right. Like the last time I got arrested, they just followed the blood trail. They just 68 00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:40,880 followed the blood trail trail into my apartment and hooked me up and just dragged me out and took 69 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:45,600 me down to Parker Center downtown. And I lived in Hollywood for many years. I'm a creative person by 70 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:52,240 trade. My day job, I'm still a creative person. I'm a designer, visual artist. And you know, 71 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:56,880 they have a police doctor down there that does nothing but sew up drunks all night. And I had 72 00:06:56,880 --> 00:07:02,080 a big gash in the back of my, my head. And that doctor starts to sew me up. Right. I said, Hey, 73 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:05,440 ain't you going to put some anesthetic or something on there? He said, you ain't got no 74 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:10,720 feeling back there. He said, start sewing. He was right. I didn't really feel, I didn't really feel 75 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:16,400 very much. Of course, I've had a lot of blows to the head too. So, we, we got together and we, 76 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:22,320 30 days later, maybe 33 days later, we were married and we were, we were drinking and I was 77 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:29,360 drunk at the wedding. And my boss was my best man. It was on. And we had the wedding reception 78 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:35,440 at the old, the old hangout in Hollywood. I forget the name. It was an old mob hangout. And my 79 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:40,640 buddies literally painted the place with blood, their own blood. But it was, it was wild. It was 80 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:45,200 just totally wild. And we drank together for a year. We drank together for a year and got married 81 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:52,320 in 1980. I got sober in 1980. We got married in 1979. So, we drank together for one year and 82 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:58,960 we spent our first year anniversary in the care unit of Orange, in Orange, California, 83 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:03,920 getting, getting sober there. And then I was so tired. I was, because of the last three times I 84 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:09,600 took a drink, my wife took me to the emergency hospital in, in Hollywood, Hollywood community 85 00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:14,800 hospital, near death with acute pancreatitis. Are there any pancreas guys in here? I'm a 86 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:19,040 pancreas guy. I'm a hospital drinker. Cause I figured out if I, if I stopped driving, 87 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:22,720 if I stopped going out and just drink at home, I can drink all I want. Well, it doesn't really 88 00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:27,280 work that way. If you drink enough, it will kill you. You don't have to do anything else. 89 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:32,720 Just drink enough. And I, and a doctor, he says the first time he says, he's looking at all the 90 00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:38,720 tests and he says, well, we usually find this condition in advanced stages of alcohol. I was 91 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:45,120 what 29. He says we advanced stage of alcoholism, right? He says, but we think you're too young to 92 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:52,000 be an alcoholic. Oh my God. He says, by the way, how much do you drink anyway? And my wife said, 93 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:57,680 Stuart, you lied your ass. Of course I lied. I have to lie. I can't tell how much I really drink. 94 00:08:57,680 --> 00:09:03,440 Cause if I do that, I'll have to do something. I can't do that. I've tried. I've tried limiting 95 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:09,920 the number of drinks. Well, that doesn't work. Cause the first one, I lose all my inhibitions 96 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:15,840 and it's, and it's what one turns into two, two turns into two to 10 and pretty soon, pretty soon 97 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:20,000 I'm back in Hollywood community hospital with the old, the old, the same doctor, the old doctor. 98 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:24,000 He's got the white hair. He knows what he's talking about. He's seen a thousand like me. 99 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:27,840 He says, you're in a living hell and it's nothing we can do for you. But if you ever take another 100 00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:32,720 drink, not, not see what I hear in my mind. He says, if you ever take another drink, 101 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:36,880 you'll die with this condition. You can't, you can not, you never have one more drink. What do 102 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:43,360 I hear in my mind? He wants me to cut down, right? That's what I'm hearing. And I thought, well, 103 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:48,400 I thought I could, I thought I could control this. I could cut down, but I had tried limiting the 104 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:54,480 number of drinks. And if the marijuana maintenance worked, we would know. Cause many, many of us have 105 00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:59,840 tried the marijuana maintenance and it doesn't usually end very well. Sooner or later you're 106 00:09:59,840 --> 00:10:06,720 going to go to the hard stuff. That's, and in my case, I take, I get thirsty and I mean like 107 00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:11,120 thirsty, like right now. And the next stop is the liquor store. Cause I love marijuana. I used to 108 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:16,800 smoke marijuana every day from the time I was 12 years old. I just got like this, but a small price 109 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:20,800 to pay to give that up. Because if you're just looking for another way, if you get high, you're 110 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:26,000 not ready for this. This is all, all of my prosperity. Everything good in my life is a 111 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:32,080 direct result of alcohol. All of my, my life, because the last few times I took the drink, 112 00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:36,000 I went to Hollywood Community Hospital, right? Well, what's the next bottom? Well, I happen to 113 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:40,800 know that the, the mortgage in the basement, right? So that's probably the next step. So 114 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:47,520 there I was last year. I was gifted with a trip. I'm a, my, my side gig is I'm a scuba instructor, 115 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:53,040 right? I was gifted with a trip to Egypt and the red sea to dive in the red sea, right? A 116 00:10:53,040 --> 00:10:59,120 live aboard first class, everything. But the guy says, I can't go. And he's a drinker, but he says, 117 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:03,440 Stuart, I can't go. But I thought of you. It's already paid for. All you got to do is pay for 118 00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:08,960 your airline ticket. So we're on board. And so we dive in the red sea for a week, a great adventure, 119 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:13,840 diving all the World War II wrecks, going through them and seeing all the rows and rows of 120 00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:22,560 motorcycles and jeeps and trucks, even railroad, even railroad locomotives in some, some of those 121 00:11:22,560 --> 00:11:27,760 wrecks out there. Amazing. And my, what my wife has totally sold on the little boy experience, 122 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:33,360 because that's a great way to go. But then on the way back, we go to car because I know I don't care 123 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:39,520 about going in a dusty museum, right? I wouldn't be in God's cathedral, the great outdoors in the 124 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:45,680 ocean or, or, or the desert or whatever. I like to be in the outdoors because that's my cathedral. 125 00:11:45,680 --> 00:11:51,840 That's what I want. But she wants to go see the, the pyramids and all the dusty museums and ride 126 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:56,000 that stupid camel. I'm not riding that little camel. That's where I draw the line, right? 127 00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:02,320 They're nasty. But the camel steak was delicious out there. So time is short. We only have like a, 128 00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:09,360 only like a couple of days in Cairo on the way back. And I had made plans on my bucket list. 129 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:15,440 I want to do an AA meeting in Cairo, right? That is really important to me. I want to do that, 130 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:23,920 right? So I go to the concierge and he says, well, I said, okay, the place was the English meeting, 131 00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:28,720 because most people in Egypt speak Egyptian, right? But the English meeting was going to be 132 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:35,760 on the other side of Cairo and Cairo is enormous. You think LA is big? 28 million people. It's 133 00:12:35,760 --> 00:12:41,040 unbelievable how big this place is. There's 10 lanes of traffic all going one way and a guy with 134 00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:46,560 a donkey cart going against the traffic. It's amazing, right? I call it an Egyptian muscle 135 00:12:46,560 --> 00:12:51,120 cart because he's pulled by a muscle, right? Going the other way. But they don't, it's interesting 136 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:57,120 culturally. They, they, they don't get mad. They just honk and maybe, and wave at them and say, 137 00:12:57,120 --> 00:13:02,400 get out. But they just keep going. Not like here, you know. Me, I'm one of the guys that 138 00:13:02,400 --> 00:13:06,320 jumps out of the car and go after somebody, right? In fact, I had to go in front of the, 139 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:10,000 that was a drive drunk. They don't want to do that. So, so how are we going to get to this, 140 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:14,000 this Catholic church where they're going to have the meeting? I'm not telling him that, but I want 141 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:20,160 to get to this Catholic church. And it was the church of the Holy family, which reminded me that 142 00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:27,600 in the Bible days, when the Holy family had to flee Israel, they fled to Egypt. This church has 143 00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:33,600 been there a very long time. So he says, he says, okay, you can go, you can call Uber and just pay 144 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:38,480 them with, pay them with, I said, okay, Uber is not going to work by phone in Cairo. It's not 145 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:43,680 going to happen, right? I said, what's the big choice? He says, well, I can let you have, I can 146 00:13:43,680 --> 00:13:49,920 let you have the house limousine with the driver for three hours for $75. I said, okay, I'll take 147 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:54,480 that because I really want to do this, right? So the driver shows up, shiny black car, he's in a 148 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:59,760 black suit and he's packing a Mac 10 under his coat. You know what, some people know what a Mac 149 00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:04,400 10 is, right? It's like, if you don't know, it's like a little submachine gun, right? So he's 150 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:09,360 packing that and he doesn't really speak English enough to get us to the other side of town, but 151 00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:15,520 we're going, and Cairo is alive at night. People are out on the streets late at night. They're all 152 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:21,440 out there partying or they're having their kebabs or whatever they're doing, and they're dancing, 153 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:26,800 whatever they're doing, lots of music. So we get across town to this area. I said, what are you 154 00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:30,400 going to do when we're in there? He says, well, I'll just wait here with the car. I said, okay. 155 00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:36,720 And there was another guy in front of the church of the long time, kind of like a Kalashnikov or 156 00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:42,400 something, an AK. So we just go into the meeting. We want to get to our AA meeting. And the meeting 157 00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:46,800 was just like a classroom, right? A regular classroom, like some of the meetings you go to, 158 00:14:46,800 --> 00:14:52,880 right? And it was very similar to an AA meeting in the Valley. Talk about the same things, 159 00:14:52,880 --> 00:14:59,680 the same issues. But the people, there's only like three Americans in them, about 35 people, 160 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:04,480 maybe 35, 40 people. And they just put all the chairs in a circle and talk about the same stuff. 161 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:09,920 And the big difference is they don't clap for it. Like you share, you don't expect this because 162 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:15,280 they're not going to do that. But you get the same thing back East, right? In other parts of 163 00:15:15,280 --> 00:15:21,120 the country. So I really enjoyed the hell out of them. Oh, I cursed her there. I enjoyed that 164 00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:27,120 meeting. I really did. And a lot of young people in that meeting, a lot of young people, females, 165 00:15:27,120 --> 00:15:33,680 and the English speaking people, but they're from all over. They're from England. They're from Hong 166 00:15:33,680 --> 00:15:39,280 Kong. They're from Australia. They're from New Guinea. They're from Saudi. They're from India. 167 00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:43,280 They're from all over. They just happen to speak English. And they want a meeting in Cairo. I was 168 00:15:43,280 --> 00:15:48,720 very grateful to get there. And we talk about the same exact stuff that we do here, right down to 169 00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:53,280 the guy who's still drunk and smells like booze. Because everybody, we want to see that in the 170 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:59,120 media, right? And I only hope that that guy, that young guy, I only hope he sticks around longer, 171 00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:04,640 that Alcoholics Anonymous can work its magic. Because it is magic. And I know if he will stick 172 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:09,600 around, it's going to be, he's going to be okay. And I just love that about Alcoholics Anonymous. 173 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:15,600 So there I was. I was in, okay, that was the Red Sea. So there, there I was in Palau. Palau, 174 00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:21,040 I was looking at a map this morning. Palau is North of New Zealand and East of the Philippines. 175 00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:25,440 Somebody knows where Palau is. Most people couldn't find it on a map to save your life. It's very 176 00:16:25,440 --> 00:16:31,120 remote. But it's a diver's paradise, right? And very few Americans there at all. It's an island 177 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:38,080 nation, 300 islands with a population of Malibu. So it's pretty remote and very few Americans there. 178 00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:43,440 Most people that speak English there are probably from Australia. A lot of Australians are. But, 179 00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:48,800 you know, again, I was on the living board. Take off and go like two, 300 miles out in the ocean. 180 00:16:48,800 --> 00:16:55,600 And there was one other guy, an American, and he was one of the snooty westsiders. You know what 181 00:16:55,600 --> 00:17:01,440 I'm talking about. He's very kind of aloof. And I knew he was, he was sober. But, and I thought, 182 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:06,080 well, cool, we can have a meeting of AA, right on, right here on the boat in the middle of nowhere. 183 00:17:06,080 --> 00:17:11,840 But it didn't happen, didn't happen. And then on the final day, we're just sitting in the 184 00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:16,400 salon and we're talking about it. We're talking about how beautiful our lives have gotten in 185 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:22,320 alcoholic zones. And he started crying. He said, I was a homeless guy for six years. I never thought 186 00:17:22,320 --> 00:17:29,440 in my life that here I would be in this exotic luxury vacation in a far off part of the world. 187 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:35,040 And he started crying and I started crying with him and he just kind of get exhausted. And I told 188 00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:40,560 this story to a young woman. She said, oh, you spent some emotion together. I said, yeah, yeah, 189 00:17:40,560 --> 00:17:45,200 that's what happened. Because that's what happens here in alcoholic zones. We spend emotion together 190 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:50,160 so that sometimes you go to a meeting and you just get involved in it. And so that was a beautiful 191 00:17:50,160 --> 00:17:55,680 thing. That was another trip that was given to me. It just keeps happening over and over. 192 00:17:55,680 --> 00:18:00,480 Another trip that was given to me, my neighbor says, I'm always saying, I said, Stuart, 193 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:05,040 you and Diane should take a, you should take a vacation, take a vacation, take a vacation. 194 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:09,120 I said, Ted, I can't avoid, I can't afford it. I can't take a vacation. I got to work. He says, 195 00:18:09,120 --> 00:18:12,640 okay, when you figure out what you want to do, let me know. I said, okay. I go to him. I say, 196 00:18:12,640 --> 00:18:16,080 hey, I want to go to Plow. He says, how much is that going to cost? I said, it's going to cost 197 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:23,360 $7,500, Ted. He says, well, $10,000 to handle it. Hands me a check. Okay. He's not in the program, 198 00:18:23,360 --> 00:18:28,400 but none of this would be happening because I became the kind of person that would attract that 199 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:35,360 kind of thing. I am convinced that you don't get something. You know, the phrase about, you know, 200 00:18:35,360 --> 00:18:42,640 what you get yourself a girlfriend, you go hostage taking, right? Or a female is going to take the 201 00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:49,040 hostage of a man, right? I'm thoroughly convinced that none of that is a way to go. Become the kind 202 00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:54,880 of person that attracts that. And this stuff has been coming to me. And so he just gave me a check 203 00:18:54,880 --> 00:19:02,160 for $10,000. You'll spend it any way you want. Amazing. And then here I am, I come out of the 204 00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:13,280 dive shop and my phone rings and the guy says, he says, I already paid for this trip to go to 205 00:19:13,280 --> 00:19:19,120 Guadalupe Island to dive with the great whites. I said, pretty cool. He says, but I can't go. I 206 00:19:19,120 --> 00:19:25,840 said, I like where this is headed. He said, I already paid for it. I can't go because he's 207 00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:32,240 closing on Hawaii, a property in Hawaii. And Hawaii is the only state where you have to close in 208 00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:37,040 person. You can't do it with a fax or a wet shirt. You've got to be there in person. That probably 209 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:43,680 adds to their tourism. I don't know. But he said, so again, I'm off to dive in the cage diving with 210 00:19:43,680 --> 00:19:50,880 the great whites, right? And that was fantastic. Guadalupe Island is off of Baja. It's like a 21 211 00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:57,680 hour crossing to get to it on the boat. Again, another little board, which is my way to go. I 212 00:19:57,680 --> 00:20:04,160 love that. And we saw 36 great whites the first day, right? And they're coming right by the cage 213 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:08,880 and I stick my arms out the cage to take a picture, right? But when the shot comes too close, 214 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:16,320 I pull them back in. And it was great fun. And all of this, I got what, like, I have like three, 215 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:22,960 four minutes left? The light hasn't gone on yet? I got five minutes? Oh, I can do it six minutes. 216 00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:28,640 So, there we are. So, there I was at the last convention, international convention that we had 217 00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:34,480 was in Atlanta, Georgia, obviously. But right by the dome there where they, 218 00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:41,840 is it the Atlanta Falcons play basketball in that dome, right? I'm not really a sports guy. I like 219 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:48,080 my sport. But so, we're standing outside 60,000 people, right? At that convention. The uplifting 220 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:54,240 power is just amazing. It takes like a week to come down after that. But so, I'm standing there 221 00:20:54,240 --> 00:21:00,160 online waiting to get into the dome. And on the other side, I see one of the other doors, 222 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:06,000 I see a bunch of people. They're in costume. And the young people, maybe a dozen young people. And 223 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:11,920 the guys, they're wearing the flat brimmed hat. They got the fringe beard. They got the bib 224 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:18,160 suspenders, the little gals. They have the bonnet, the apron, the long dress. I said, "Diane, hold my 225 00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:23,120 spot here. I want to go find out what's going on with these people." So, I go over there. I said, 226 00:21:23,120 --> 00:21:28,400 "Hey, what's your story? What's with the get up, huh?" She says, "Oh, everybody's got a name tag." 227 00:21:28,400 --> 00:21:34,080 And she says, "Oh, we're from upstate New York." I say, "Yeah, but what's with the get up? How come 228 00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:39,520 the costume like that?" And she says, "Oh, we're Amish." And I started to say something really 229 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:43,840 stupid. I started to say, "Well, I think I don't think our Amish drink. They're not supposed to 230 00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:48,720 drink, right?" Well, Muslims aren't supposed to drink either, but all kinds of them are not 231 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:53,120 supposed to do all kinds of things. But we do it anyway. And she laughed and laughed. She says, 232 00:21:53,120 --> 00:21:59,680 "Yeah, I know. But we get thirsty too." Of course, they get thirsty, right? And think about who the 233 00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:06,000 Amish are. Well, they're farmers. They have silos full of grain. They got silos full of wheat and 234 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:10,320 corn. And believe you, they make everything themselves. Believe you me, they know how to 235 00:22:10,320 --> 00:22:15,520 make some whiskey. Come to find out, they're famous for making a really good whiskey. I 236 00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:20,000 had no idea. I mean, obviously, they're not supposed to do that. My life had been so adventurous. 237 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:25,600 I got to wind it up. I'm walking into Walmart the other day with my wife, and who was in charge of 238 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:31,680 security, but a guy who was on the A-yard in Lansing. I take lots of prison pants. He was on 239 00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:36,880 A-yard doing double life without parole. And now he's in charge of security for Walmart. He's 240 00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:41,360 standing in the parking lot, and I just walk right up to him and say, "Hey, dude." I give him a big 241 00:22:41,360 --> 00:22:47,840 hug, and the other Walmart people, they don't know what's going on. And because of Alcoholics 242 00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:54,240 Anonymous, he's walking around free right now. And he used to say, "Stewart, they should never 243 00:22:54,240 --> 00:23:00,160 let me out," because he never thought he would get out. But now he is out, and he's doing okay. 244 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:05,520 He's doing okay. This has been such a great adventure. I have a lot of character defects. 245 00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:11,120 I have a lot of faults, but ingratitude is not one. If I have to cash in all my chips tomorrow, 246 00:23:11,120 --> 00:23:13,760 I will be eternally grateful to Alcoholics Anonymous.