Greetings, and welcome to a special episode of ZacCast. Chad Janicek here, and for today's episode on Thanksgiving week, we wanted to change the pace a little bit. So Patrick and I sat down with my brother, Cody. He's actually was visiting from the Czech Republic, where he and his family live, and we talked to him about how Europe is handling the most recent COVID outbreak, what it's like to live in Europe as an American, uh, things that he will miss when he moves back to America. He's also an Aggie, so naturally he and Patrick are gonna get some good-natured ribbing in at my expense. Uh, but anyway, it is Thanksgiving week. We hope that you are being safe and enjoying, uh, some time with your family and enjoying some good food and hopefully some good football. And, uh, enjoy the episode as well. Thanks.

What's up, my brother?

Wow.

I can't believe, I can't believe you actually did it.

I actually just watched, uh, another episode where he... So that's a, that's a thing that Michael Scott says, apparently at least twice throughout this, the, uh, The Office. I thought he just said it on that phone call with Ryan, but he also says it to Hunter when he's applying for the job at corporate. So anyway-

Oh.

That's a very-

Cody...

... interesting piece of trivia. Thank you.

Yeah. Welcome to the podcast.

Hey, guys. Thank you so much for, uh, for having me.

You bet. So this is obviously a podcast that focuses a lot on local government issues, and we figured that, um, a minister that lives in Prague would definitely be, like, the right, perfect guest to have, so...

Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm excited to share my expertise about the impact-

Ah

... of coronavirus on European cities.

Well, we figured that that would at least be something that might be of interest, so let's just start there. Um, obviously it appears that Europe is getting pretty bad from a COVID standpoint. So you've been living there for, like, seven years, obviously, um, you know, not all over Europe. But what's it like in Prague right now over the past couple of months maybe?

Well, the situation in the Czech Republic has, um, for several weeks been the worst in Europe, um, uh, probably the last six weeks. Um, and so the Czech government had a, had a fairly robust lockdown in the spring and, uh, seems to have been pretty successful because we didn't see anything like we're, we've seen over the last two months. Um, so we've been locked down for about six weeks. Um, uh, schools have been closed. Uh, travel has been restricted basically to work and the grocery store. Um, and, and that, that seems to be paying off. In fact, uh, Katy, my wife, um, said that they have started to open schools, uh, again. So the numbers have, have really, uh, started to go down. Hospitals are, are starting to see, um, beds open up, and, and it looks like, looks like at least in the Czech Republic, um, the situation is, is coming under control.

So do people follow the guidelines that the government lays out in Europe? Like, is it... 'Cause in Texas we have a mask mandate from the governor, right? But-

Mm-hmm

... um, if you go anywhere-

Don't go to Buc-ee's.

Don't go to Buc-ee's.

Yeah.

Right?

I, I, I did. I just got out of a Buc-ee's about 30 minutes ago, and, um, there were not a, not as much compliance there as, as there would be, yeah, in, in Czech. Um, yeah, it's less of a, it's less of a thing. Obviously, you know, um, there's some, some lockdown fatigue, um, setting in, and we've ha- we've had some demonstrations, um, in the city center at Prague, some riots. Um, but on the whole, you know, uh, at least the, the Czech people have sort of taken this in stride and, and just sort of see it as, um, uh-

Our people

... one more... Our... That's right. We need to work on the pronunciation of, uh, Janicek, by the way, Chad.

Janicek.

Um-

Is it Yan-e-check or Jan-eh-sek?

I- it's Yan-e-check.

Janicek.

Every time I listen to your podcast, I'm reminded that we have to, we have to work on this.

I'm just a Texas boy. At least I don't say Janicek [in heavy accent].

Nice. So in Europe in general though, um, you know, obviously they've gone through... W- would this be, like, the third wave that they've just finished, or are they just on their second?

Well, it's, it depends on which country you're talking about. Spain is, uh, probably on their third wave. France is on their third wave, and Italy. But Germany, um, Germany has, has been pretty successful at, at keeping things under control. And I think for the Czech Republic, and probably for Slovakia, uh, this is really, really the first wave. Um, the, the cases just kinda trickled, trickled in, um, in March and April, and then things really just kinda opened up or, and we're back to normal, um, for the summer. And so w- what happened there was everybody came back from their summer travels and, you know, within about four weeks of people going back to normal life, um, we really started to see the numbers, um, rise. So yeah, it, it's been a really, a, a country-by-country kinda thing with, um, Italy, Spain, and France, um, having the worst. And the UK's been pretty bad too, but they're not continental, so, um, not really, not really too concerned, um, there. But, um, but yeah, it's, it's been, it's been bad, especially in those places. And, um, you know, I think we're seeing the, some of the fruit of the, the success of the springtime lockdowns in the Czech Republic. Um, so I think people got complacent and just started to sort of pretend, um, that they didn't need to act or, you know, behave any differently, um, anymore, so...

So do people actually fight the government and the government mandates that, in, in Prague? Or is it just kinda like, "Oh, yeah, we understand"?

Um, yeah, I mean, I think most people just sort of understand. It's not-

Right

... I mean, there are, there are, it, it, it's, it's much less of a contentious issue wearing masks, staying home. You know? There, there have been obviously, um, isolated incidents of, um, ah, breaking curfew, restaurants not abiding by the rules. But they've cracked down fairly, fairly hard on those, on those, um, establishments. And, you know, I think especially when you look at the Czech history, uh, you know, the last 600 years of, ah, basically being defined by, um, ah, ah, foreign invasion, this is just sort of like one more iteration of that same old story. And so I think Czechs especially have taken this in stride, um, and, and seen this as, you know, honestly wearing a mask and, and distancing as, as the bare minimum, um, at this point. Again, th- this is all, um, ah, in response to this most recent wave. I, I do think people be- got complacent, um, there for a little bit right at the end, at the end of the summer. Um, but there hasn't... Yeah, it's just not as, as contentious an issue over there as it seems to be here in the US.

Are people... Do people space out, like, at the grocery store?

Yeah.

One thing that I remember-

Oh, yeah

... distinctly from the times that I've visited Prague is that when you're waiting in line to d- to buy something, people will get right up next to you, like almost touching you.

Yeah. Yeah, so b- by, by European standards, yes, there's, there's distancing. Uh, but it, it, I, it would... It's basically like a normal day in America. It's one of the things I miss about living in America is, um, the personal space, the, that we give each other in public. Um, so yeah, there's definitely been some adjustment there. But, um, you know... I mean, the stores there look like they do here, you know? They've got the plexiglass up and the dots on the floor. And, um, and, and even now they're starting to, uh, limit the number of people who can, who can be in a store, um, at a time given, uh, depending on how, how big the store is. Um, so you know, they've, they've taken some steps there to, to limit, um, people's exposure to one another.

Well, we don't have to spend too much time on COVID. I just thought maybe a, an on the ground perspective from, uh, from Europe might be interesting for some people to hear. Um, you know, we can get news, and I have found, like, 15 different articles today just about Europe and how things are kinda raging over there. But, you know, just kinda hearing from an actual person as opposed to a reporter-

Mm-hmm

... I thought that might be interesting. So I'm gonna cede the, uh, the floor at this point because I know, I know that Patrick has a lot to talk to you. Y'all are fellow Aggies. And I just, I'm just waiting the barrage of hate that's about to come my way. So Patrick-

So, so-

... why don't you go ahead?

So I have two main questions. I, I really only have two questions. One, I wanna know, and I think our listeners wanna know, what was it like to grow up with such a nerd?

I thought you were gonna ask me is Texas back. Um. Sorry. I, I-

Not just back.

I guess we're on a totally different-

They're back

... yeah, we're back. Oh, man. You know, it was very difficult. Uh, Chad, as you can imagine, um, as an old- my older brother, was, uh, very nitpicky. I mean, he still... It's still a point of pride for Chad that he's better at building Legos than me. And I, you know, like, a couple years ago my son got to the age where he's ready for Legos. And, uh, we were back in America for Christmas, and we had gotten him some stuff. And I told my son Milo, I said, "Oh, you know, uh, Uncle Chad always used to give me such a hard time about how I build Legos." And then Chad and Jess and his family came, you know, came over for opening presents, and we had the Legos out on the floor. And Chad Chad looks over at Milo and he goes, "Yeah, your dad's not very good at building Legos." I mean, it was like- ... you know, it just instinctive. So, uh, that's-

You have to overlap the, the bricks.

Yeah, that's right. Yeah. 'Cause-

Oh, that's like the main thing that you never learned is you have to overlap the bricks for the structural integrity.

Yeah. So, so we're getting a, a real-time picture

You can't build straight walls with just lines.

No.

Yeah.

Mm-mm. But there's a whole world of Legos that I never knew existed when we were growing up. Like, there's a, a technique called SNOT. I think it's called SNOT. It stands for stub's, yeah, stub's not on top. So basically it's just this way of rearranging the Legos, and they have all these kinds of crazy SNOT pieces where you don't... Like, none of the stubs are visible. It's, it can get s- it can get really nerdy. Did y'all, did y'all happen to watch the Lego Masters, the master builder competition show?

Time out. Time out. Time out. No. No. Nobody watched that except for Chad.

It was so cool.

Ladies and gentlemen-

And this is what it was like. This is what it was like.

Ladies and gentlemen, that-

Right here

... that was the nerdiest statement you've ever heard Chad say on our podcast right there. So w- what was it? Stubs? Is that what you said? Stubs?

Stub's not on top. It's called SNOT.

SNOT.

The SNOT method of Lego building.

Wow. Yeah. Uh, no, no, Chad, we've never gone into that. But-

I mean, I don't fault you for not having heard it, 'cause I didn't know about it until a couple years ago.

But while we're on your support for crazy antics, um, do you still support Tom Herman as your head coach at Texas?

This is the question everybody's wanting to know.

Yes.

I am 100% ready for Urban Meyer.

But do you-

Which is, which is obviously the rumor that-

Isn't that Patrick? Isn't that cute?

... has been circulating among Texas fans.

It's cute.

The question is, uh, how feasible is that? And my problem, just like my problem three years ago, four years ago now, is Charlie Strong is struggling, but if we fire him, who you gonna get?

Hugh Freeze.

Now, I don't fault them for getting Tom Herman, because he was on the top of everyone's list. Like, he... There was so much support for getting him from Houston that you couldn't really not do it. And even if he failed, everyone was going to remember that everybody wanted him.The problem has been I don't know who you, who you get if it's not someone that's proven. The last two coaches that we've had, Herman was at Houston, uh, Charlie Strong was at Louisville. Charlie Strong had a, an NFL caliber quarterback, um, that seemed to help quite a bit, uh, you know, the functioning of his team. And when he came to Texas, we just didn't have that. So if you're gonna go through another coaching change, the, this'll be the fourth one in, like, seven years, I mean, you, you have to get someone who already is proven. So my answer is yes, I'm, I'm willing and ready to get off the Herman train, but it has to be someone who's already made it, not someone who's an up-and-comer.

You know, Chad, I hear Art Briles is, uh, he might be available for you guys.

I'm sure he's available. I think he's some kind of OC out in East Texas.

He's a head coach in East Texas.

Is he a head coach?

Yeah. He's a... It was all over the news when he got the job, like he got his first head coaching job after the Baylor fiasco. But you should've known about Tom Herman as soon as you saw him swing a sledgehammer. Which, folks, in the show notes- ... Chad is going to go get that video-

He is not

... and place that video in our show notes so that everybody can see that.

Just for the record, I have total editing power- ... over this podcast.

That is true.

This entire section can get cut out if it needs to.

I only get the little black book of all the passwords and codes when Chad goes on vacation and he's afraid he may die. So-

That's actually true

... that's usually the only time I get that information.

Chad is my father.

Correct. So-

Yeah, some, some things are inherited.

Nice. Well, uh, Chad, do you... Will you admit that right now Texas A&M University football is better than that school in Austin?

I-

Oh, come on

... I recall, like, maybe four episodes ago, y'all were about to face Bama, and Mike Leach had just destroyed LSU, and I gave you a hard time. Um-

Mm-hmm.

Y'all have d- y'all have performed better than I expected. Didn't think you were gonna beat Florida. Um, you know, uh, what can I say?

That may be-

It is what it is.

I, I, I don't think that you've actually answered the question.

Yep.

If, if Texas were to play A&M, I 100% think that we would beat you. But-

That was my Santa Claus laugh

... but just objectively, y'all are having a better season than we are. We are so inconsistent and just mediocre.

Well, you hired-

Well, maybe

... Kevin Sumlin 2.0.

Well, that's true.

Yeah. I mean, y- we knew it doesn't, it wasn't gonna work when Kevin Sumlin didn't work. It wasn't gonna work when Tom Herman went to Texas. I mean, you've had more... Have you had more college presidents than you've had football coaches in the last seven or eight years?

Let's see. Powers-

Nobody can get along with anybody down there

... and Rez. Oh, this is our third. This is our third. Well, it doesn't help when you have an Aggie governor who's trying to destroy the board of regents.

Oh, boy. Oh, boy. Hey, hold on, Chad. Uh, let me go find your tinfoil hat real quick.

Correct. And, and let me ask this.

I understand.

Let me ask this.

Hold on, hold on, hold on.

Abbott-

Hold on. Hold on, hold on

... the current governor for, like, the last six years, right? Is it six or seven years? How long we been at this? He-

He's a

... he is not an Aggie.

It's about to be McConaughey, and then I'll tell you what, if the minister of culture-

All right, all right, all right

... becomes the governor- ... UT football is gonna be unstoppable.

This is-

I-

... this is my how the mighty have fallen, am I right? There are only a, a handful of active head coaches who have won a national championship. Um, Urban Meyer's not one of them 'cause he's not coaching. Jimbo Fisher, Nick Saban, Dabo Swinney, and, uh, who's that other one, Patrick? I can't remember.

Yeah.

I think it was somebody who'd been fired by the University of Texas for going 8-4 and not-

Right

... losing to Kansas. Mack Brown I think is who that was.

Yeah, and he's coaching-

Yeah

... he's actually coaching halfway decently now, uh, with a team that can't even recruit in the top 25.

I think Mack needed a break, though. So Colt McCoy going down in the Bama championship game really broke Mack Brown. Um, he decided that we needed to have a pro-style Alabama offense from back in the early 20, you know, 2010, and we didn't have the personnel for it. We went through two or three years of just being awful, and I think that it was time to part ways with Mack Brown, as sad as that was, and I'm glad that he's doing, doing well now.

It's acceptable to me.

But I gotta say this.

Could've won seven games.

All of this animosity, all of this, this little brotherism, what it stems from- ... is the fact that A&M existed before UT, and despite that fact, the state legislature decided that they needed to have a university, quote, "Of the highest order."

There we go.

And as a result, they created the University of Texas. And since that time, it's just been like, "Well, what about us?"

Yeah, that's right.

"We were here. We were here first."

Yeah, I think, I think, uh, when, um, one of the most well-respected sports commentators in television calls your university a cesspool-

Don't call Herbie. Oh my gosh.

... a cesspool, we can, we can, we can, we can just go ahead and stop using the university of the highest order language straight away. Cesspool.

I can't believe you're bringing that up. It was so obvious-

Yeah

... that Charlie Strong was feeding, uh, Kirk Herbstreit information.

Oh, man. Chad, where's that tinfoil hat, brother?

That was a 100%...

Yeah, seriously.

Put the tinfoil hat again.

The conspiracies of the terribleness of Texas-

Okay

... all come out with Chad.

Well, here's the truth, though.

There's gotta be some explanation for why Texas football has been so bad-

Yeah

... for so long.

Well, I mean, at least we've won a championship since Hitler invaded Europe, like, ravaged Europe, right?

There it is.

When, when did the Czech Republic get annexed? Was that, was that '39 or '37?

It was '39.

'39, okay. That was a really long time ago, wasn't it?

It wasn't that long ago. You'd be surprised.

So can we change the subject just a little bit? I wanna, I wanna ask a question.How is it that y'all grew up in the Austin area right? Leander, technically.

Oh, I'll answer this question, uh, before you even ask it.

Okay, hold on, hold on, hold on.

With four letters.

I didn't even ask the question. How is it that y'all grow up in the Austin area and your other two brothers choose A&M, Chad-

Mm-hmm

... but you chose Texas? For just a couple of years, by the way, for the listeners, 'cause this is like me riding the bench at Katy. Chad did not finish at Texas. He actually finished at UNT.

That's true.

Yep.

Uh, I will answer your question with four letters, G-I-R-L. You can deny it if you want.

No, it's true.

But Cody chased a girl, and they never, they never even dated. He found someone else, and she's wonderful, and, and we love Katie. Uh, but he did chase a girl to A&M.

I, I, I went there-

And then my youngest brother, my youngest brother went there 'cause they had a degree that fit what he wanted to do, so.

Which is working grass, right? That's what he does.

Well, and, and I mean, also, I think that it's, it's undeniable that there is a certain mindset that is more likely to get wrapped up in that cult-like mentality than others.

Oh, boy.

It just so happens that my other two brothers fall into that category.

Nice.

You know, uh, it's, it's typical of those, like, involved in a cult to deny reality and to look for explanations, um, that don't meet Occam's Razors, uh, you know, to, to explain why things are the way that they are.

Does he have multiple razors?

S- Excuse me. And, uh, Chad, Chad, I don't, I, I don't know that you have demonstrated a firm grasp on reality, uh, today, so if anybody in this, uh, is, in this, on this podcast is demonstrating group think and, uh, cult-like characteristics, I think it's you. So anyway, just-

Well, in the immortal words of Creed Bratton, "You have a lot more fun as a follower, but you make a lot more money as a leader in a cult."

Wow, The Office references. How about them?

Bringing it back to the beginning. Good job.

Yes. Right, right back to the beginning. Uh, just, just to be clear, though, most Aggies do not disagree that A&M is a bit of a cult.

No, that's true.

Right? And I mean, y- you're not... We all admit that there's a culture that's there, right? And that culture is what drives us to be better than that other school that's found in Austin, Texas. Just is what it is.

Well, that's just like-

They call us boss more often than-

... your opinion, man

... we call them boss. Just pointing that out.

How many unqualified people did you interview in Hudson Oaks just because they had an Aggie ring?

A few, because the rule that you have at A&M- ... the culture of A&M is if somebody applies for a position and A&M-

Uh-huh

... happens to be on their resume, you interview them to provide them the opportunity at the job, but also to provide them the opportunity of the experience of an interview, because we believe in shaping young-

And can I, can I, can I ask you a question?

And if you were great in an interview.

How do you feel that the taxpayers-

Chad has cheated great

... of Hu- Hold on. How did you feel that the taxpayers of Hudson Oaks appreciated you wasting an hour of your day, that they're paying for, to interview someone so that your fellow Aggies can get some good experience?

Well, I don't think most of them care. Chad, how many interviews has your Texas ring gotten you?

Well, I don't have one. Thank you.

Oh. Oh, ju- just checking.

The city council in Hudson Oaks was far outweighed by Aggies that sat on the city council, uh, than any other university that was there. So-

Yeah, I know

... I, I had a majority vote.

That was five taxpayers out of 2,600.

It, it's true. Uh, first off, you said taxpayers. Let's be clear.

Yeah.

They don't pay a tax.

They pay taxes.

Right? They're the lucky 2,200.

You can't-

They don't pay a property tax. They occasionally pay sales tax when they go shopping, but come on.

No, they pay a sales tax every time they go shopping.

That, that's true. Well, occasionally. At a grocery store-

Someone has to fu-

... they only pay it for about 30-

Someone had to pay your salary.

Well, uh, uh... Oh, thanks, Chad. There you go. He gets really nitpicky when you get him on the ropes.

I'm just looking out for the taxpayer is all. That's all. That's my main priority.

And, and to be clear, I, I did hire one of those employees who turned out to be really, really good, uh, who was an Aggie interview. She's, she's-

I'm worried there's gonna be so much of this last, like, 10 minutes that's gonna have to be cut out.

I feel like all of, all of this needs to be cut. And maybe, like, thrown in a, in a barrel and burnt.

We had a podcast on that, uh, once that... Since we're cutting anyways, we have a podcast on, uh, police brutality that never made it to the air.

I will be on that podcast. I'm happy to be on that one.

Well, Chad and I tend to stand-

Okay, all right. Well-

... on different sides of the equation.

Yeah.

Let's, let's, let's bring this back around then. So Cody, final question: What's your favorite type of YouTube video to watch?

Oh, man. You know, I'm not a big YouTuber, but I, I did fall down a, a, a YouTube hole a couple of months ago. Um, they're called First Amendment audits. And if, uh- ... if you're a, if you're a into that kind of thing-

It really should be... Well, I guess First Amendment 'cause they're videotaping, right?

Yeah. So it's basically... And it's not the sovereign citizen thing, you know? It's just like a- uh, y- y- normal people will go, you know, stand on a public sidewalk outside of a government building and just, you know, pull out their cellphone and start recording and just wait to see what happens, and it is absolutely incredible, um, how predictable the response of, of, uh, public employees is to people recording with their cellphones.

We talked about this a little bit a couple days ago, but what is, what is the culture of things like free speech and, uh, like unreasonables? You know, the things that are basically not granted, but protected by our Bill of Rights. What is the culture like in Europe? 'Cause obviously it's different.

Mm.

But is there as much respect for it? Is there more tolerance towards limiting things like free speech?

Well, I think you have to, you have to remember that when we talk about Europe-We can't talk as though it is a-

I know

... a single thing

It's not one, it's not a monolith.

You know, so if you're talking about, uh, Germany, it's a much different free speech culture than you're, than it is in, in the Czech Republic.

For very, for very specific reasons.

Yeah, yeah. There's cert- certain topics which, uh, are not to be mentioned, um, you know, in, in Germany.

Is verboten a German word?

Verboten is German, yeah.

There you go.

Many things are verboten-

That's apropos

... in this speaker. Uh, in the Czech Republic, I would say there's a fairly robust, um, free speech culture. Um, you know, obviously with their history, uh, and their recent history, um, there's a, a, a fairly big emphasis on, um, liberty and freedom and, and so y- there's much, m- much more of a, I would say, of all of the European countries in central and western Europe, Czech Republic might be the most sympathetic to kind of the American disposition. Um, so m- m- much more prone to look, looking to America a- as a model for civil liberties than, say, the UK or Germany. Um, but, you know-

Interesting because not only is it Slavic, it was also under the, under the Eastern Bloc.

Yeah. And so, you know, th- they have experienced life in a, in a place, you know, where, um, you, you had to walk on eggshells and you, and you weren't sure who, who could be trusted. You know, at, at one point, a third of the country was, was informing to the secret police, and so they've lived in a, in a world where you can't speak your mind, where you can't, um, say what you think. And I, I think for the most part, they, they don't even want to flirt with going back to that kind of world. Um, and so there's much more emphasis on, yeah, personal individual liberty and freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, um, than, than you might find in western Germany or France.

Y- you've been in Europe for, like, six years now. What is the thing that you're going to miss most when you come back to America?

Mm. Yeah, I think, um, honestly, just the pace of life and kind of the cafe culture. You know, it's hard to distinguish between what I like about European culture or Czech culture and what I like about life in a big city. Um, y- you know, there are a lot of, uh, conveniences that come with living in a capital city that I will, I will really miss. And, uh, so I think the, the pub culture, the, the slower pace of life, um, you know, the fact that waiters aren- don't have your bill on the table before you've finished your meal, um, is a nice thing, and I'll, and I'll miss that. And just kind of a, it's a little more leisurely, and, um, and, and I think that's, um, better for my blood pressure than the more high-paced Chili's culture, uh, here in America.

You consider that-

Except when you have three kids under five-

Well, that's true

... and then you want that check immediately.

That's true. That's true. That's true.

Uh, you, you consider that to be leisurely. My experience in Europe brought me-

Patrick hates Italy. He will never go back.

I'll never go back to Italy. It's like the laziest culture that I've ever been around.

You've never been to Spain. Yeah, you've never been to Spain, obviously-

So Spain is w- I've never been to Spain yet

... 'cause it's much... Yeah, the trains are not on time in Spain, ever.

Okay.

Um-

But like in Italy, maybe-

It took me three hours to get a rental car in Spain. It was-

Wow

... it was a nightmare. So.

It's, it's like in Italy, you, you wake up, like, if you're an American, like, everything about Italy is so foreign time-wise, right? You wake up, you would, like, want an American breakfast at 8:00, right? 7:30 the latest.

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

So they're not doing anything until about 9:30, 10:00, right?

Mm-hmm.

Then you'd wanna go to lunch. Well, they take a break at lunch. Like, they just, they just go away. And then, you know, they, like, 2:00, they come back to work, right? They work till, like, 6:00, and then they eat dinner at, like, 9:00 PM. And as Americans, it's like, 9:00 PM, that's, that's time for Fox 4 News and, and bed, right?

Mm-hmm.

Like, I'm ready to go. So I, I just showed how boring I am as a human being on a work night.

Yeah, that's right.

Um, but man, like, other than a slice of pizza at, you know, some type of, like, pizza cafe on a corner, like, everything is closed at every point in time that Americans would normally go out to eat, I felt like.

Mm-hmm.

Well, you know what they say. When in Rome...

Do as the Romans do? Yeah, there you go. Great.

Yeah. I made that joke a lot when my wife and I-

Wow

... were in Rome, and she did not think it was funny.

Funny, I did the same thing.

So, so when do you officially move to the States, man? Like, when's, when's the official move date?

Uh, we're, it looks like, like, sometime in the fall, um, is, you know... Uh, so we, we've just adopted a child, um, he's... Well, not just, he's been with us for almost two years. And so a lot of our timeline is determined by how quickly his visa gets processed, and, and so... But, but we're confident. We, we feel fairly, um, confident that w- we can, we can make the move back to the beautiful United States, um, sometime in the fall of 2021.

So when is the adoption gonna be finalized?

Well, the adoption is done.

Okay.

And so there's just a, there's a bunch of rules about how long he has to be in our custody before he can qualify for citizenship and a visa, and, you know, it's, it's, it's quite a complicated process.

All right. Well, hey, man, thank you for coming on, Cody. Uh, glad that you're here and safe for, you know, what, like, 10 days?

For now. That's right. Yeah. A couple more days here, but yeah, it's good to, good to be on the podcast. Longtime listener, first-time guest. And, uh-

As Patrick calls it, the pod.

The pod.

Yeah. On this, this ep of the pod.

This is the, this is the Cody ep of the pod.

The Cody ep of the pod.

Anyway, appreciate it, and, uh, we will not see you later.

That's right. That's right. Thanks, guys.

All right. It's good to see you, man.

It's like, uh, it's like traffic. You just keep increasing the capacity, and just more cars keep coming. So if we just keep building more add-ons to the house, I'll just keep filling it up.

Yeah, but that's not really how this thing is. It's not like if you build it, they will come. It's like you keep having babies-

That's what she said

... so you, so you, so you have to build it.

You laughed yourself... I mean, it, that was coming a mile away.

I know. I know.

Yeah.