Bellied Up - NFL Mascot Wants to Be a Lawyer #155

Episode Date: June 12, 2025

We're live from Frank's Lounge in Fargo, ND! Our first caller is a woman frustrated with her husband who won’t stop wearing camo (we think he sounds awesome). Then we hear from a lifelong mascot who just graduated college and is now considering trading in the costume for law school. And to wrap things up, we’ve got the purr-fect special guest joining us to close out the episode!Leave us a Voicemail: 218-303-5095Get Tickets to Bellied Up Live in Chicago July 8th 👇https://www.etix.com/ticket/e/1052206/2025-charlie-berens-podcast-chicago-zanies-chicago

Welcome back everybody to another episode of the bellied up podcast. I'm here with my buddy, Charlie. Hello Hello. Hello Charlie today. We are at Frank's lounge in Fargo, North Dakota and We were just getting the lowdown about Frank's Pretty cool story. Very cool. It used to be back in the 1980s, a club for gentlemen, allegedly, allegedly. And there was a big pink kitty, which is now in Frank's lounge here, right here on sign. It used to be the old logo. Charlie's got it on his hat shirt. Same. And what was the name of old before it was Frank's lounge back in the eighties? What was the name of it? The pussy cat club lounge, the pussy cat lounge. And there was a Catholic church still across from the new location. This location, Frank's lounge. He wanted to,

Frank wanted to name it the pussy cat lounge. Yeah. Wasn't his name Jim. Yeah. Jeff Jeff wanted to name it the pussy cat lounge on the, in the new location, Catholic church cross the street said, we would love it if you wouldn't. This is a bridge too far. Okay. And you know, a respect they're respecting. I don't even think they were mandated. They could name it whatever they wanted. They respected the local bishop's request or whatever. I got a letter from the bishop. It's basically a cease and desist from the bishop. Pretty much.

I mean, you know, the Catholic church probably could have, you know, tighten their belt and throw down some money for a lawsuit, prevent, you know, push their weight around, you know, pulled some money out of the graveyard, sent it at this situation, but they didn't have to. Cause they said, you know what? We'll just call Frank's lounge. But we are putting a picture of the strip joint in Frank's lounge, which they have right over there in the corner.

Yes, they do. So, um, so Charlie, one thing that piqued my interest when we walked into Frank's lounge is I saw a sign that advertising their mini donuts. I know. And I said, and I said, what was the last time you had me donuts, Charlie? And he said, it's been a while. Yeah. And then he proceeded to talk about mini donuts and he was not, we were not talking about the same thing. We actually were talking about many donuts miles. You said I was talking about donut holes. And I said, no, first of all, why did they call it a donut hole it's not a hole it's the donut hole so what makes the hole in the donut is what you get out of it and that's a donut hole to be honest with you and I'm not messing

around that did not make sense until I was today years old right now you just realize what they're called donut holes yeah it's cuz the whole of the donut gets taken out and that's what's left. And it's not even a hole at all. But really you are right. You are right on that. I thought it was a whole donut. So we taste test these mini doughnuts. Yeah. These are the mini doughnuts. Yeah. Okay. Cheers to the man. This is the first time having mini donuts at a bar. I don't know if you have, but I feel like maybe. Oh, my God. Mm hmm. Thank you, Lord. For these gifts. Wow. Holy wow.

Actually, the oh, I just I went full thing in my mouth. Sounds like you, Miles. Sounds. Pop that in your mouth. There you go. Very good. So if you're at Frank's Lounge, you got to get some mini donuts. Very crispy on the outside, but melts in your mouth after you get past that first layer. Damn, Charlie. Jared has a question for us. What's up Jared that he

would like us to answer if money doesn't buy happiness. What makes you happy. What makes us happy if money doesn't buy happiness. Everyone's one. Sure. And that is the Charlie Barron's origin story of how he gained 60 pounds like I used to weigh you for a bit. Charlie, you should just gain 60 pounds. Should I? It would be funny. You think what would the bit be that you got fat fat Charlie? Yeah. It's like fat Mac on always sunny in Philadelphia. What makes you happy Charlie? Well, what makes me happy? God. Oh, I'm glad you brought it up. Okay. You know, um, you know, at night when you're like kind of, uh, when, when you don't have any shoes or socks on and the insides of your toes itch. Yeah. I like scratching that edge. That makes me happy.

I think that just sounds like you have athlete's foot. I think you may just need some ointment. Really? But then I want people to scratch. That's what makes me happy is scratching itches. This is going to be sound strange, but what makes me happy is when I have a I'm drinking a beverage, let's say a beer here and maybe I set it down. I walked away for a little bit and I came back and mentally I think that I'm almost done with the beer. Yeah. Yeah. And then I pick it up again and it's full. and it's just the best feeling that I still have a full beer to drink. That's it's just the best feeling in the world. It happened to me last night. That's got to make you feel really good. I get that. I get that you come back and it's just like you set the bar low

in your mind. You come back and you just exceed expectations. Yeah. It's either that or I'm just drinking someone else's beer and don't know it. So that way Yeah, it's either that or I'm just drinking someone else's beer and don't know it. Mm-hmm. So that way, either way, it's a win-win, you know? And then you don't have to get a flu shot. So I also like, you know the paint storage place in your house, like under the stairs? It's just, it's always a shit. In the garage, under the stairs, wherever.

Yeah, it's a shit show all the time. One of my happiest moments of the past two months was cleaning mine out and actually getting rid of the stuff with just a quarter bit of paint that I've never even, I don't even know what that color was for. It was probably for five different paints of coat generations back in the household paint. Probably had lead in it. I got rid of it. Did you dispose of it correctly? I did. Okay. I did. Yeah. I was going to be my, you know, me miles, I'm

a hippie. I don't mess around with that stuff. But I, and also there was a toilet underneath the, underneath the basement stairs. It's where they put a toilet back in the 1800s. I got a, you know, I got a little sawzall. I cut the pipe and it's a fully functioning under the stairs. That toilet pipe was just breaking up the whole room. Nothing flowed underneath the stairs in that compartment.

But once I cut that out, it transformed the whole area. And I still think about it. Sometimes I think about that as I'm going to sleep. What else makes you happy, Miles? What do you mean? When you go in? When I go to bed, I go to bed like kind of thinking about how that happy that makes you. No, I just think about like and then I start to bed, I go to bed like kind of thinking about how that happy that makes you. No, I just think about like, and then I start to get other ideas because there's still another

little compartment. If you go around the corner. So I'm like, do I open that up? You know, is that a load bearing situation? I started thinking about that and then I fall asleep, but it makes me happy. Gets me going. Can't you tell right now? Yeah. Yeah. You can see visual

evidence if you look for it. But anyways, what else makes you happy miles? I think what makes me happy is paying for vacation in advance. And then when you get to the vacation, it just feels like it's free. Oh yeah. You know, like, wow, I love this free vacation. I'm really glad that miles 12 months ago paid for this. Yes. Yes. Cause there's nothing worse than being on vacation and resenting every drink you purchase. Yeah. Have you already paid for it? You're good to go. Yeah. It's money spent. Forgot about my wife's going to listen to this ago. Miles, you've never planned a vacation 12 months in advance ever in your life But six months then okay, really do you plan?

Well, we just do it together. I don't like that's so cute, dude No, well, it's cute, but then we end up spending three hours Trying to find the best deal and weighing all the options and I'm like by the end I feel like I have a spreadsheet. I'm like, if we go these days, this is the flight costs. And then if we go, but if we were to go this day, it would be cheaper if we went here. And so then it's like turns into this puzzle

and it ends up taking five hours. And then we don't even, we don't even book anything. Wow. You're a better man than me. That whole thing gives me kind of a little anxiety just thinking about. Yeah, me too. Yeah. No, I don't love it. OK, OK, OK. Got it. Got it. Yeah, it's fun.

Yeah. Yeah. I did that. Yeah. Well, yeah, it's when you do it, I'm surprised you do it six months in advance. I'm more the guy that would wait to like the week before and just pay as you go and resent the whole thing. No. Yeah. You don't know about that about me. There's no way that you would plan something just a week ahead. Yeah. All the time by that. If I'm lucky, you know what makes me happy? Look at my finger

and dip in this remaining brown sugar. Try it. Yeah. Oh yeah. Two fingers in there. Good for you. Mm hmm. Well, Charles, we're here at Frank's lounge. Would you like to take some callers? You know what else makes me happy is when someone's got a really expensive bottle of booze, you know, and they're, they're telling you about it and they're like, you want to try something and try it. It's okay. Yeah. I mean, well, but also like, do they even like it? No. One of my buddies got it like a lot, a lot of money and he always is kind of flexing his booze and then I test it and I go, it's okay. Just to see how he reacts. And that one sip you took was $15. He does that. He does. Okay. It was just okay. And he forgets like every

time I do it is because he says the exact same thing every time. Poor guy. Anyways. Yeah. Let's take some colors. Sorry. ADD. You're good. Joy. You got miles and Charlie on the belly of the podcast. I hear joy. I hear that your husband only wants to wear camouflage. Is that accurate? It is. I got a bit of conundrum here and I thought who better to call than the best Midwest. I don't know. I was trying to come up in name for you guys. We appreciate the effort. That was, that was literally could have said anything and she, she couldn't get anything out that we were the best at the best of the Midwest could be like a jingle and like who you're going to call Midwest there. There's something, but that's lame. I don't think

of anything else. That's not so bad. Joy. Well, listen, just pretty funny though. She was like the best in the Midwest at. Oh, shit. They're not good at that. They're not great listeners. They talk over each other a lot. And the guest, neither of them are particularly good at sports or fixing stuff for school. What do we call it? So you give people advice. Yeah, there you go. Yeah, right.

Bringing life happenings and the change of people's lives. So, you know, those who can't do give advice. So there you go. Joy, here we are for you. What's what? We're wondering what it will. What's so bad about the camel?

What's the problem? Uh, the problem? The problem is I can't even find them in my own house or see him anywhere we go. We're on a walk and I just looks like I'm holding an invisible man's hand. People are making fun of me cause it looked like a crazy lady. So then, you know, in our house, they're like, look at that lady on drugs over there talking to a tree. Exactly. And like, you know, we're at home cause his love language is touch. So he's like, you know, I like it when you

show more affection and I'm a hug and kisses. Well, like, okay, it's fine. But we got to play Marco Polo. If you want me to find you. Well, they do work out that great. They do say that you need to touch grass. So you should get some grass camo. Yeah. You should wear each aware of speedo. You should wear a grass camo speedo and tell you to touch grass. One man's grass is another man's mossy oak miles. So I'm just trying to help the guy out. He seems like a great guy. And lately he's been saying, you know, he wants to get like these camo chairs and, you

know, this is the voice from beyond get you that I'm hearing. That's his camera shares. He wants to make like his man cave, all camo and stuff. And I'm like, well, that's great. Only be able to find you if you smile. Cause then I'll see your teeth. But that's it. At least he brushes last thing you want is camo teeth. Did he wear it. At least he brushes. Well, that's the thing. You want

his camo teeth. Did he wear a camo talks at your wedding? He did not. I made him wear something else so that it didn't look like I was marrying nothing. Now, when you say all he wears is camo, does that extend beyond the slacks? Sometimes. Yeah. He has camel boxers. Yeah. I think he does have some. Okay. All right. All right. Now does he like to, to hunt or is he just love camo? He does a little bit of hunting. He could do a little bit more, but you know, he only goes like once. He's a fair weather hunter. I was going to say, are you, are you saying he's got stolen valor on wearing this much camo? I mean, I don't know if he's doing it on purpose or like I've tried to buy him other clothes

and he doesn't wear them. I never see him again. He opens it, he's like, oh, that's nice. And I never see it again. They're in his closet behind all the camo. One time I asked him, I said, you know, you really like that hoodie, don't you? He's like, oh no, I got like 10 things. I'm like, oh, okay, that's why.

I'm like, okay, that's why. Well, where's the what's the real problem here though? Aside from you not being able to find them, you know, I mean, you've got a guy that you're married to that everywhere he goes, he's the best dressed guy in the room. So what is the real issue? I mean, how do you know he's the best dressed guy in the room? Because he's wearing camo. Obviously, Joy. I love the commitment to the room. So what is the real issue? I mean, how do you know he's the best dressed guy in the room? Because he's wearing camo, obviously, Joy. I love the commitment to the bit.

Well, oh, because she thinks, damn it, Joy, you're just I like that. Yeah. Joy, you know, you can see camo when it's up against a, you know, a brown wall. Well, not a brown wall, but an orange wall. Oh, maybe that's what you can see camo when it's up against a, you know, a brown wall. Well, not a brown wall, but an orange wall. Oh, maybe that's what you can do. Maybe you can get them into wearing

blaze orange. Maybe, maybe that's, that's your gateway. Nice and loud. Yeah. You can't just like hand them a button down black button down shirt and be like, you should wear this. That's it's too jarring for him. Ease them into other clothing items by going blaze orange. Yeah. I got to stay within the theme. I got you. And I suppose I can't do pink camel. He won't go for that. Well, you could, you could, I mean, joy, what you got to remember is that every color is camouflage depending on the situation, you know? Hey, I could use that to, um, I could be like, you know, this tan color, we ever go out to the desert, you will blend in.

Exactly. And if, you know, all the, like with some blue, go to the beach, come blend in. Right. But I don't know why he wants to be camouflaged all the time. I'm like, why are you always trying to hide from me? Which I'm like, is he doing it on purpose? Maybe Joy, he's not hiding from you.

He just wants all eyes on you instead of him. That's it. Joy, he's a gentleman. Oh my, he could be quite the romantic and I didn't even know. does a marriage go and otherwise joy Well, we had our second anniversary yesterday Congratulations, congratulations two years. What did what you guys do? We just went out to dinner, okay, what's been what's been the biggest fight in your marriage so far?

The biggest fight. Oh, my. Oh. Nothing really stands out. There has to be something. What's the thing you're avoiding saying, Joy? I see that internal clock skipping right over it. Most people, what did you black out in the last two years that you're trying to forget? Let's see. I mean, I put him in charge of money because you know, I like money. So, so you're saying that, so you guys will argue about how much money you're spending on coffee.

Depending. I've gotten better because they'll see, you know, they'll see the charges and he's like, yo, what was this about? And I'm like, yo, I want a little something special for Monday. A little something. What's the what's the thing that you bought that pissed him off the most? I hope that pissed him off the most. I like Amazon. We've joked I'm going to name my first baby Amazon because I like Amazon.

We got an AWI Amazon while intoxicated. Is that one of your things? No, actually I don't do that. Thankfully. Otherwise I would probably buy everything I've ever wanted on Amazon. Yeah. I mean, that's the, that's the pandemic right now for men across the country is not only is their wife spending too much money on Amazon, they have to spend an hour and a half every day breaking down all the boxes in the garage. It's a one, two pun. It's just a kick to the left and right. Not, I mean, we got cats, so the cats really liked the box. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Gotta keep the babies happy. So what, what's, what's the thing that's, you know, you say like Amazon, but what is the item you bought that he was like, we don't need this. Why did you spend money on this? You're killing

me. Usually it's a big, like a big expensive purchase. I ask someone like, Hey, there's a lot coming out tomorrow. I don't mean I also have a horse and he's pretty expensive. Oh, you have a horse. You're a horse and cat gal, huh? I am. Horse people. We know about horse people.

Oh, yeah. Do we? Well, I met some horse people once and they're nice folks. Odd ducks. It depends on which folks, odd ducks. It depends on which ones, which ones. There's a lot of different breeds, just like there's some weird dog owners and usually they have, you know, certain breeds have certain weird people.

Okay. And then there's normal. What are the different types of horse people, Joy? Well, the thing always goes is there's horse crazy. And then there's crazy horse people crazy. All of just horses and it'll be nice. I don't know. The crazy horse people are crazy. My cray cray. Like what kind of crazy like, like they're the ones that all you make them mad or say something upset and they're going to carry under what your truck.

So basically in the horse community, it's equivalent to being a hairdresser, you know, hairstylists in the horse community are crazy horse. I mean, horse barns sometimes love their gossip. So. They're gossippers. I just like the idea of if Carrie Underwood wrote that song about a horse. Well, he dug my key into the side of this sea biscuit, and then he died.

Dug my key into the side of sea biscuit, and then he died. You know, think about it. It worked. It worked in my brain. Anyways, what were you saying before I got stuck on a thought and I had to get it out? But I ignored everything you said between the time that got stuck in my head. You're just saying something. My husband is ADHD. So, you know, we have about five different conversations in 10 minutes, but that's fun. Yeah. It's Bali and combos. So you, so, so joy, you know, my pain, you, you live my, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You get, you

gotta bring them back and be like, you gotta find something they like. And then you'd dangle it from their face. Like, Hey, Hey, look, look, look. Oh, sorry. Yeah. Yeah. We're back on this now. Put your husband on the phone, Joy. I want to talk to someone on my team. You know, I should ask him to call in because he has a pretty funny guy. I mean, usually he makes me say that, but he can be pretty funny. What's he doing right now? I've gotten quite a few more. Oh Okay. I think not. He's at the DMV. He said, I was going to say he's at work. He's at the DMV cause he hit a deer. That's why. No, did he keep it? He wasn't watching for them. Well, the deer didn't see him. He was camo. He's like, there's nobody driving that car. It's been, it's still gone. And

we didn't even get any meat in the freezer from it. Yeah. Charlie, what's he doing? He's at work so that they can pay for all the Amazon charges. Yeah, honestly, you know, you, you, you judge him. Okay. But he's out there. Do you guys both work or is he the, you, you, you judge him. Okay. But, uh, he's out there. Do you guys both work or is he the, the, Oh, no, we both work. Okay. The economy really. I, well, I don't know. I don't know if, I mean, he's at the DMV in the middle of the day.

Oh, it's his lunch break. Probably. No, I think he's, he had other errands to run this morning and they, uh, it couldn't happen on a Saturday. So, oh, is it Saturday? Thursday? Oh, that couldn't happen on a Saturday. I get it. Yeah. You got, you got to bring joy. Do you have any techniques for a little bell joy? Do you have any techniques for me to keep Charlie locked in? I mean, it's easier if you're a significant other, but I'm as close to as you probably

can get. Yeah. What can miles do to keep me on track? Joy. Oh, show a little. Does snapping work? Cause I've had the urge so many times to be like, Charlie, that's fine. I will respond to that over here. They're own dance and start like clapping and do another stuff along. And then you get in a dance off. That doesn't always work. Yeah, yeah, you're right. Then he'll make noise. Yeah. When they start making more noises. He'll just start singing. We're doing the West side story. Do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a do a And then you wave that in front of his face. He's like, Oh, yeah, that might work.

The only way to focus Charlie in is go look at that golden finch over there. Where he's dialed in. There was a gold finch dead outside miles his place. It was very sad. We think it hit the window. Yeah, I'm sending miles some bird savers for his window. Songbirds are dying at a rapid pace. you guys, because of all these fricking windows. Yeah, it's it's kind of like shingles.

You know, reason why tornadoes and bad weather doesn't hit big cities all the time is because they have shingles repelling it. Now we have the opposite problem that windows are attracting birds. Is that true? Shingles, tornadoes? No, there's a guy, there's a guy, there's a guy I used to work with when I was working concrete.

That was his theory. Oh, you would talk about shingles and contrails? Yeah, he would just say that shingles repelled bad weather. That's hilarious. So. Oh, that was his way to get people to do some re-roofing, huh? Yeah, actually pretty smart. Pretty smart. Yeah. Yeah.

Well, Joanne, I don't think you have a problem with your husband to bring it all back home. I mean, if I wear camo, does that cancel his camo and I can see him? Yeah, maybe do a camo off. You just start wearing only camo as well. And either, and either your marriage is going to just explode into love or he'll realize like, yeah, maybe I should tone it back because I now get it. Yeah. You just mirror him everywhere you go. Just wear camo. He'll get sick of it. That's the way to do it. Yeah. Except for he might really love the camo undergarments. I might get him. I might get him going either way. You guys will probably have a kid within the year. So if you start wearing camo camo and the rest

of history. Yeah. Guys already have a tough time finding it. And then you throw camel underwear on. We are screwed. We got no shot. When, when he goes hunting, that is the only time he can concentrate and doesn't have ADHD. Then he can be quiet. All right. Then he can focus. I got a deer costume. You can borrow. Yeah, we can make it the phone hunting game. There you go. Yeah. A little role playing goes a long way. Well, well, joy, we appreciate you calling in and chatting with us today. Yeah, of course. I love you guys. This podcast makes me laugh all the time when I'm in the car. Joy, we love you. Tell your husband, we says hi. Joy. It's better. You're welcome. And I bow. All right. Tell your husband to watch out for deer. Did you already say that? No,

but make sure he knows. Yeah. Yeah. I think he, I think he knows now. I think he gets the idea. It's gotta be looking for him. All right. Talk to you later. ADD in these new cars. That's the worst in the new car. Yeah. They have all these screens and I was in a car. I don't know if it was a rental car or whatever where the seat would vibrate. If I got too close to a line. Oh yeah, yep, yep. That doesn't help. Yeah, it's cheek vibrates. I was in a car, a rental car, and the whole seat was a massage chair. Did you like it though?

I mean, it was kinda nice, but I just felt like a real bitch, you know? Why? Because it was like a big SUV and it has like a massage chair in it, you know? I was like, I can't get it to get off of the, the, the butt massager. Oh no. I'm trying to get the back massage or just won't work. I guess it's broken. I guess I'll just leave

it on. I did get a butt massage and it was nice. Yeah. It was real good. It was nice. It was, it was like a little, it felt like a rolling thing right on, right on the tank. It was good. Yeah. You guys sit out there and judge me losers. Yeah. Go rent. What was it? I forget the car. So we take another caller Charles. The nice thing about the car though, I didn't even have to pay for it. It was a free upgrade cause they ran out of the smaller ones. So even get me started on rental car companies. Don't even get me started. Yeah. What's wrong with the rental car company? Okay. All right. Another pipe. Maybe we could do an intro. We could dive into it. Do a whole episode hour long about how dumb rental car

companies are miles. You know, it's road trip season. Also it is. The sun is shining. The lakes are humming and we are getting in our cars and we're going someplace else. I like to do this. Roll the window down. I go like this with my. Yeah, just let the wind carry those fingers to a new dimension and a new state of mind. And as you're feeling that wind through your fingers out the door.

Prank. What was that, Miles? I just hit a deer. No, because I was watching out for my hand and not a deer. Oh, no Miles, I bet the insurance company is going to try and pin this one on me They're absolutely bending me over the barrel and showing me the 50 states charlie I don't know what to do and we all know this was an act of god We didn't invent a deer and put them there that insurance coverage

Company should cover it, but they're not because they're a bunch of greedy little wankers. We'll call Nicolet Law, ladies and gentlemen. Injured, get Nicolet, 1-855-NICOLET. Silent T on the end. That's what I should do is call Nicolet. Call Nicolet. Okay.

Go nicoletlaw.com. Already done. Done and done. I called them already. Calvin, you're talking to Miles and Charlie from the Bellied Up podcast. How you doing? I'm good, how are you Charlie?

Doing real good my guy. Now listen, we heard that you got an, had an interesting job in the past and we'd like to know a little bit more. Yeah, we want to know a little bit about that. Yeah, let's do it, right? So it's past and present. Right. So I'm still doing it. Okay. And so I am, I was an undergraduate. I was a graduate and I was

professional mascot. Nice to our professional mass mascot. I was a professional mascot in the national football league. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait, give us a hint. We know it's not the Packers, right? It is not the Packers. Now, not the Packers. It's in the Midwest. Uh, lions. I can't say Charlie. I'm under NDA. Oh, damn. Right. Come on. So unfortunately I cannot disclose what team it was, but it is a Midwest team. Right. And it was absolutely phenomenal to do it. Okay. Hey, let's just play a game. Just make an animal noise. Is it an, just make an animal noise that just first comes to you. Oh, I say like nay. Maybe a brown. No nay. So a horse, the cold, the cold, the cold. Wow. Okay. I wouldn't confirm nor deny. So you're the guy I, I, okay. How do I get around

this dude? He's aroused. So if you, we're not saying that you are the mascot for the Colts, but so you got some Shakira hips on you. Cause I know that mascot is constantly whipping his hips around. Well, I appreciate that miles. I don't know if I would describe myself Shakira, right? But I definitely can whip the hips around a little bit if needed. Nice. Nice. What's it like? Okay. Can, can you tell us about the mascots? Blue. Can you tell us about the, your former mascots? Can you confirm? Okay. So where'd you, where'd you get your start? Let's hear that origin story.

Got my start at Bentley university in Waltham, Massachusetts. Well, where in the hell? Okay. I get the mascot. Yeah. Give us the mascot. Yeah. That's the Falcon. So he just changed. Take a look on the Google Adam, right? You'll see an article about me when I unveiled myself. Right. So that's where I got my origin story. Wow. You crushed it with the gals. Not at all, Charlie. Yeah. That's a good question. Charlie, the mascot. No, no, you would think so, right? You would think it'd be, and I mean, the ultimate cheat code to life, right? But unfortunately not. Cause you can't tell anyone. And you just, and you just smell like sweat all day. You smell like a complete shit all day. You smell like you just smell like sweat all day you smell like a complete shit all day

You smell like you just played an entire football game like we understand each other I gotta tell you this so that's not true for every mascot because I knew someone who dated a Bucky and she said she said that there were many Buckees and that they all have a Bucky tattoo on them and Yeah, and it's usually hidden, the tattoo. Oh, wow. Yeah. Damn, Charlie. Yeah, that's just what I heard. So do you understand?

Have you gotten a tad of any of your mascots? I have not quite yet. Right. So I bet like I was one of one. So I was the only mascot up there. Right. So like at a Friday night freshman year, I saw this application. They needed a mascot. Right. So I applied Monday. I got like a text message from like my then to be boss. It's like, Hey, are you available right now? And I said, yeah, sure. I went down. He threw me a pair of shorts and he's like, Hey, we need you to mascot a retirement event. That's a good first starter one. You know, not a lot of big movements. I was so confused

on video of me walking around like I was a statue. Right. And these like, it's all these old retired professors who wanted nothing to do with a mascot. It is like I'm going up behind him, giving them like nookies, right? Like trying to get them and they're like, we don't want to be here. That's what I want to think of a wrestler is the thing that they want the most in life is a noogie. Yeah. Oh, a hundred percent retired professors too. They don't even have hair. That's see, like I thought that's what they would want. Right. And I mean, I've tried to get him a little excited, right? But eventually they gave me the job.

Oh, so you didn't just get the job you had to audition. I had to audition at his retirement event. Yeah. Okay. Like if this kid can handle the retired retired professors event, he can handle anything. How difficult is it not to just talk as a mascot? Oh, it's so difficult to not talk, especially when you see someone, you know, Oh, you want to sing in the entire world. I believe it. Do you do the weirdest thing miles, right? Is actually that you develop relationships with people from inside the mascot suit. So like your best friend as a mascot with like this one person and then you're out of the suit and this person doesn't even look at you.

Right. They're like, I don't even know who this guy is. Wow. I mean, now you know how Bruce Wayne feels, you know, exactly. You're basically Oh, a hundred percent. You're basically the less cut, less skilled in martial arts version of Bruce Wayne. Well, that's kind of hurtful. You don't know that. Yeah. Like you don't know my martial arts skills. Like we haven't met each other yet. Also you think about this. Sorry, sorry, sorry. You are the poor version of Bruce Wayne. That's fair. Yeah. No, we can go with that. Yeah. A hundred percent. You are the poor version of Bruce Wayne. Is that fair? Yeah. We can go with that. Yeah, 100 percent.

You're the true value, Bruce Wayne. So listen, I think this would be this would be a crazy like plot in a movie or something, but you're the mascot. Right. And you're out at an event and you see your girlfriend there and she's with another guy and they're like making out and they're like, let's get a picture with the mascot. And they come up and this guy's got his hand around you, you know, and she's got her hand around like past you

on his butt, anything like that ever happened to you? Nothing like that ever happened. But right now I'm thinking miles. Like you said, my lack of martial arts skills, I could use my martial arts field as the mascot and like flip this dude and get into like a great battle scene. That's all I'm thinking. Do you really have martial arts skills? Absolutely not. Okay. But it's a good one at all. So that would be no, that would be the worst. Do they give you any sort of protocol that's okay to like talk? You know what I mean? Like

would they be like, all right, if you saw your girlfriend cheating on you, it's all right to confront a whole situation. Like we'll give you a pass on that. Is there anything like that? So like, no, I had a girlfriend two years in college and she didn't know until like the last few months of relationship. Wow. Did that start the decline of the relationship that you kept that as she started? She started like getting with this other dude. It was all fine. It was whatever. Really? Well, it's probably cause you wouldn't open up yet, man. She felt like you were emotionally unavailable. Yeah. You don't think about that.

Yeah. You didn't tell her about this huge part of your life. That's like finding out your spouse is in the CIA, dude. I mean, I guess. Yeah, that's something, right? But you're trying to be secretive. You know what I mean? There's like it's the whole point of the mascot. Yeah. And can you really fault her for being secretive about the other guy? If you're being secretive, not at all. That's why I kind of blow it off. You know what I

mean? I blow it off and I'm like, it's, it's what happened. You know what I mean? I had more fun being the mascot. It's better. You know what I mean? Yeah. And that's like the best diss you could have ever said about your ex girlfriend. I had more fun being in a giant costume that smells like sweat, piss and puke than, you know, being with you. And I hope this gets to her somehow. All right. Well, what was, what was that in your second mascot? So yeah, my second mascot is I moved to Kentucky, right? And I became a mascot of a large D one institution where I'm at right now. Right. And had a definitely a lot more. So that was the Louisville Cardinal. Oh, okay. Yeah. That was definitely a lot more fun. Let's pop that one up. So as of like a week ago, I'm no longer

the Cardinal. What happened? I graduated. Oh, congratulations. But damn, thank you. It's going to be tough to leave that one behind. Wow. Yeah. No, that one, that one was definitely a ton of fun. Right. Get into front of crowds apps, like actual crowds at Bentley. We were D two, right? So crowds were pretty small and no one was really getting into it. The only sport people really cared about was women's basketball. And then you get the Louisville and then it just pop in all the time. It was awesome. At your D two school, you're performing in front of, in front of tens of fans. Exactly. Hey, no football games. We had like a thousand, right? It was, you know what I mean? Mostly the other team's fans, but it was good. It's just parents. Yeah. It's it's just parents. Yeah.

It's just parents. It's just, and you have a Louisville was awesome. No great. Do you make a lot of money? Unfortunately not. Right. There's definitely there's wage transparency, right? Okay. And the mascot game, right? It's definitely way different wage disparity, right? Okay. I like the mascot game, right? It's definitely way different. Like I've been talking to several professional organizations before I chose the one I went to right in between undergrad and grad. And like there were some places that paid like 10 bucks an hour. And then there was other places that paid like six figures. Really? Well, doesn't it? You've got to bring some

talent to the six figure job, right? Like you got to be able to do flips and stuff. Correct? Oh yeah. You gotta be like the bulls. You know what I mean? Like the bulls mascot or like the bucks mascot, right? Like those mascots that you know, you know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. Are you like, are you like good enough to get to that place? I'm pretty good. Right? So I had an interview with a larger organization and NBA organization, right? And I was in the final round. So there was about three people, right? They started with like thousands of applicants and it got down to three. So there's definitely a shot that I have to get to that level. You're at the table. Yeah. I'm at the table, right? It's just, you know, I mean, so get into stake now. Do you like

send them a highlight reel? Like, do you send them your huddle link and then a hundred percent? Right. So like the one application I sent out to rate, I'm like, I was super desperate for a job. So I put way too much effort into it. And I made it like it was an entire high school, like quarterback huddle profile or a code an entire website for this. Took it way too seriously. Didn't even get a call back. Damn. Yeah. Like this is to try hard. Can we watch your huddle reel? I could definitely send that to y'all. Yeah. Can we? Great Yeah, we should we yeah, we can't show it though Can we show it or no? I? Have to check I haven't seen it in a bit, right? So we'll have to check what's on it and I can let you know

Yeah, you can't have Colts thing on it So yeah, no, I well if I've never that. Right. No, you didn't say that. I said that. No, you said that. You said that. Yeah. But here's my predicament. Yeah. Sorry. Sorry. No miles. No, you go ahead. So here's my predicament, right? So I just graduated from grad school, right? So I'm really trying to figure it out here. If I keep on doing this mascot thing or go to law school. Okay. That's quite, quite the gap. Yeah. It's quite the gap here. But listen, I'm just going to say something. The way technology is advancing robots can do the law school stuff. Robot. I mean, the lawyers are all going to be robots in a matter of a few years.

I think we're still at least 10 years out from a robot being a mascot. And I'm sorry, Miles, but I had to bring it up. But I knew Charlie was going to bring up the whole AI thing with this. Right. I knew it was coming. Yeah. I mean, thanks a fucking lot. What? I'm just saying I'm speaking truth here You are Charlie. No, you are right. Yeah, people should know people should know but anyways, I think I mean Let's not just rush over the fact that you said that mascots aren't gonna get replaced by robots

Not that net lawyers will be replaced first Jared Jared disagrees really Jared will be replaced first. Jared Jared disagrees. Really Jared. There's already animatronics and stuff already. Yeah. But let's see the best animatronics right now. Can they can they really do like the flips and stuff. No but I think eventually they will. Yeah eventually. But I'm saying right now. But a lawyer is much tougher to be. Yeah but no. Right now basically lawyers are using like chat bots to do all tougher to be. Yeah. But no, right now, basically lawyers are using like chat bots to do all their preliminary stuff. Yeah. He's talking like all the other stuff, like a trial lawyer. Maybe not. Right. Yeah. You're saying all the lawyers. Yeah. Okay. I suppose. I suppose. I don't know. You got to run the numbers. Look, one is going

to be a lot more fun with you though. Right. I disagree with you. Cause I think a mascot, right. You need to have that connection piece. Right. And like if this little kid comes up to like this robot mascot, you won't know it's a robot. The robot will be inside of the costume. I don't know about that miles. I feel like this robot's going to punch this kid in the face eventually. And that's a lawsuit. And then we need an attorney and AI attorney. Yeah. And that'll be another robot trying the case. Hey, why can't you do both? Why can't you hedge your bet? Do both. See, I don't know. Right. That's, that's why I'm here. Right. Trying to talk it out here. Yeah. Just do both. You don't gotta do homework on Sundays. Right. It's it's I

mean, I mean, basically it's a I mean, you're you're working one day a week on the mascot thing. Yeah, you're doing two jobs. Doing two jobs. Understood. Yeah. And if you get a good enough mascot job that can pay for law school. Oh shit. Yeah, no, you're right. I know. I know. My bad. I apologize. I think just go for both. What can you go for both? What can you do right now to improve your skills to get one of those to become a bulls mascot? You got to work on your flips. What do you got to do? See, I'm not tall, Charlie. That's my issue, right? So I cannot dunk a basketball. But with a trampoline, I'm pretty

sure you can. And I I've never seen a mascot just straight up dunk a basketball without a tram. That would be wild. Yeah. Actually, right. A little bit more about the mascot and game. Okay. Just you know, main tree edification, right? So there's actually a height requirements for a lot of mascot, right? So I Bentley, the height requirement was five, 10 to 62 and I'm five nine. Right. So I actually like, I was just let in and like Louisville was the same thing. They barely just let me in. Right. Like I had like, sometimes I had to put like stuff in my shoes, right.

In order to make me seem a little bit taller. Wow. Do they measure you there? Yeah, they measure you. Oh yeah. Don't they say take your shoes off. They have you take your shoes off. Yeah. There's like, there was one, one team, right? I won't say which they had like a combine more or less for a mascot and they like, they measured you. They took your weight. They had like healthcare person there, like all the 10, like all a hundred yards for it. I mean, you'd think that the, that being a mascot is like knowing what the nuclear codes are the way you're talking about this. I just, I don't want to say this, but I kind of, I just doesn't feel like it's that serious. I don't that we need miles.

I mean, how many mascots do you know? I won you. Yeah. So here's what I'm saying. Right. You don't know because we keep it pretty secret. You know what I mean? It's a tight group here. Yeah. I also just don't miss. So he see me running in the same circles as mascots either. You know, I don't know if I'd actually run into them. Understood. All right. Well, now you will. I'm about to be on mascot tick tock after this because I've said mascot too many times and now I'm just going to get only videos and great tech talk. If you've never seen mascot tech talk, right? There's some great content on there. I want to know who's the most impressive mascot in all of professional sports.

Who's the goat? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's it. I got to go with the Milwaukee Bucks. Milwaukee Bucks, my guy.

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. That guy's impressive. Have you ever seen some of his stunts? But also the BYU, right? That guy, right? He's super impressive too.

I like it. Right? Two really, really impressive mascots. If you look at BYU, right? He's super impressive too. I like it. Right. Two really, really impressive mascots. If you look at BYU, right? If you look at BYU mascot, there's like this routine he did a few years ago. Super impressive, super athletic fellow. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. The BYU mascot. What, what's the, I think that dude's DM me BYU mascot. What's his name? Shoot. I can't think of his name up top. My top. You're not supposed to say that. Right? Well, his name is like Cosmo. Like the, the math, the cost, yeah. Yeah. Right. But the

guys came out of the, like, he came out, right? Like saying who he is and stuff. Right. And there's like pictures of him and so he's, so he's, he was one of the first gay mascots. I think he was one of the first to really get me get out of the bag that he was, but I feel like a lot of mascots. I mean, you gotta be able to dance. You gotta be able to, you know, I mean, express yourself. I feel like he's not the first, right? But like he really opened some doors. Oh wait. So that was, I was doing a joke. He actually is. Oh yeah. No, like he actually is like, he's a gay man. Yeah. Oh okay. I thought you're saying like he came out and told everyone he was the mascot and I was doing a joke that he came out as gay. Oh yeah. But he did both. I guess. Yeah, he

did both. He came on out and he came out as guy. I was wondering why I didn't get a reaction about that. And now that makes sense. Also, he never, he never did DM me. It was a different mascot. I'm on a phone. Yeah. Great. Did. Yeah. I got a question when I was at the D two school, we kind of had two mascots. So we had our regular mascot, his name was Scorch. And then we had the blow up version. So like, you know, the, the mascot ones where they have the air thing in there that they blow up and then they walk around and then they're like had Bob's around and stuff like that. Are you a purist or what's your stance on the emergence of blow up costumes? You're right. That's taking away the jobs, right? I mean, yeah. What, what do you think

just walk around? You know what I mean? Yeah. Talentless hack. It is, it's a talentless position, right? All I get, the only good one I could ever think about is if you guys remember the Raptors blow up mascot that used to eat things on the court. Yeah. That was the only good one ever in my opinion. We will let that one slide. Right. But other than that, no, no. Taking away, take away jobs. Where do your dance skills compare to Cosmo? Oh, Cosmo is just that this guy's the enemy. He's world class fired. Look at this. Yeah.

Big package on him, too. Look at that. I look at that Cougar moose knuckle right there. It's no great, great, great fella. Great, great fella. Right now right now they're good right um i don't want to brag but i did come in second in the waltz and dancing with the stars and 2023. Whoa really? Yeah oh yeah big competition charlie big competition. Damn congratulations on that. Oh i appreciate it they never gave me a trophy, but I'm gonna State it out with pride everywhere I go put on the resume short Kings got a know how to dance, you know Oh, yeah, you got to make up for it somehow. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I don't necessarily want to call myself short either

I mean, I think a pretty average Charlie, but you are five nine. You are a short king through and through Well, that's hurtful but okay You are a short King through and through. Well, that's hurtful, but okay. Why is it hurtful? He's calling you a King. You are a scotch taller than a short King though. Short King, I believe, technically five, six to five, eight and three quarters. So you just squeaked in there. You know what I mean? Well, they always say you round up an inch. So I'm actually, I'm downplaying myself. So I'm more or less five, dad. That's what I tell my wife as well. Just

round up. Five 11. I'm one 11. I'm one 30 seconds of an inch past the last inch. So let's round all the way up. Exactly. You understand that you get it. I don't measure your hair sometimes. Yeah. Put a bump it in. What? Let's, I got one last question for you. What would you say are like the top three rules of being a professional mascot? What do you, what's, what are they? The top three rules of being professional mascot. Yeah. I would say silence, right? Make sure that you know, I mean, you maintain the character right at all times, right? That that'd be number one, you're approachable, right? You create an environment people want to be at. And then number three, just have fun with it. Right? I think that's the biggest

thing is just making sure that you have fun. Because when you have fun, the audience is having fun, right? And you can really amplify that environment. That was the most corporate lawyer. No wonder you're going to law. Are you reading off of a script for that? Tell me what the real rules of being a mascot are. Don't show up drunk. Don't show up high. do your fucking job. There you go. Okay. You got it. Oh, what's what? As me as a general, as, as a civilian, how can I interact with a mascot? That's appropriate. Like, can you go up and give them a big old bear hug from like a sack tap, you know? Yeah. Can you guys think that's not right? Like I, I'm definitely worried about having kids

miles spread with all the fact that you got rigs Cause I never had a handler at Bentley. Right. So kids need to just come up to you and just like punch you. Right. So many times, right? Like super worried about that. I can tell the future wife that one, one day just begging your nutsack the whole game a hundred percent. Cause I think it's hysterical. Right. And it's like, this isn't funny. Right. There's something down there. It's kind of funny. You wear a cop, you gotta wear a jockstrap though. No, there's no way there's no like where to really put it in. Right. Because you mean you're already so I would wear a cup here and there to like hockey games and stuff. Other than that, no.

Are you naked under there? You got shorts in like the smallest t-shirt you can find. Hmm. Wow. Interesting. Yeah. No, cause it's hot. It's hot in there. Huh? You ever done it commando? I know. No, I wasn't that bold ever. Right. Cause the things are itchy, right? Like they don't get washed properly, right? Cause you really can't wash it like right. The only has really washed like properly like once or twice a year. Right. So like, you don't want to like catch something either. You know what I mean?

Tumble dry or you hang it. Oh, hang it. Yeah. Hang it. I just thought of some, you know, as you saw the, the BYU mascots got its own Instagram page, right? Like they're creating content around mascots. Do you think there was a college out there? Like one way we can get our mascot in front of more people, let's start a podcast with them. And then they're like, all right, this is debut day one, episode one of the mascot podcast. Here we go.

I think it's a great idea, Miles, for it. And the mascot just sits there and says nothing. Miles would kind of like it if I dressed up as a mascot on this podcast. And I could just put words in his mouth. Yeah. Charlie, you dirty dog. Why would you say that? I'm just sitting there nodding occasionally. Yeah. I mean, I think that you have to have

the video content with it. Your YouTube might blow up more than like your Apple podcast or your Spotify, but I think it could work. I don't think it could. I don't think so either. I was trying to be either. I was trying to be affirmative. I was trying to help you right here. Yeah. Thank you. So you didn't see my as the enemy and I stupid of an idea, but I was saying was well, we appreciate you calling in good luck with your future endeavors. Do them both is the short story. You only have once and you know, work on your front flip. You might become a buck one day.

Oh, I appreciate it. Long time listener, first time caller, right? Charlie. I've tried to see you in person two times now through the Puget both times. I haven't been able to see you, right? There was probably a Colts game or something when I was in Indianapolis. No, it was in Louisville, Kentucky and Wolfsburg, Pennsylvania. Oh, I think it's the boat. Yeah. I miss both of them. You know what? Now that you say that in Louisville, one day I was walking around your campus down there. There was a bunch of Cardinals. Yeah. What'd you really? Yeah. No, it's a good place down there. Right? Yeah. I just missed that show, right? I just missed that show. Right. I missed that show.

I end up having to give my ticket to a buddy and his girlfriend. His girlfriend hated you. Really? So he dumped her. Good. Why did she hate me? Yeah, it wasn't a bad show. I I don't know, Charlie. We don't like her much anyway. She must be in the eye business.

Anyway. Yeah. Well, it's good talking to you. Good talking to you too. Yeah, you will see in the fall. Well, I appreciate it, right? I guess you guys are watching. Yeah, I could tell my family like I know a celebrity. They're like, which one of the Colts? And I'm like, no, no, no, no, the cold, the cold, the cold.

Good talking to you. Yeah, well, man, have a good one. Good talking to you. Yeah. We'll see you soon. Good talking to you, man. Have a good one. Just the whole underground world you just don't know about, you know? I like that there's like a goat in the mascot world. I like that there's...

Yeah. Oh, yes. You know, what's the bucks mascot's name? Bango. Bango? He's really doing some good stuff. Bango is. Do you think he watches film on himself? I'm sure, dude. Absolutely. Yeah. He's spending a lot of time in there. He takes it serious.

You know, I mean, and you wonder how many of those mascot guys are like moonlighting at the furry conventions. You know, you know what I mean? You should have asked him. I should have. I just thought of it. I never even thought about that. Call him back up. Let's just ask him if he's a furry skimmer buzz. Just just call and then just let him answer. We'll hang up. Yeah. Hey, what's up? Hey Calvin, one more question. Did you moonlight as a furry ever? I did not know. Do you know any mascots that do moonlight as furries?

I do not, unfortunately. OK, you guys don't fortunately, you don't know each other like that. You don't. We we don't. All right. Unfortunately not. We're not on the same level like that, I guess. Damn. It's a lonely world, man. It's a lonely world. Only you can know. And well, all right. All right. I just wondered.

Well, you watch for deer now. But again, I can't trust anything a mascot says because they just they just lie to everyone. They say I'm not the mascot. I'm not a furry. No wonder that gal cheated on him. I think we could confidently say that Calvin's a furry. No wonder that gal cheated on him. I think we could confidently say that Calvin's a furry I wouldn't admit it either. We need dresses up as an animal. Yeah. I mean he's already there He's actually getting paid to do it right and we would know we're both wearing pink Pussycat pussycat shirts and hats. We were looking good today. We never even addressed this

Yes, we did. Did we? We talked about it. Our hats and shirts? No, we didn't. We told the whole story. No, I was talking about that, but we didn't talk about the clothing. Charlie's got pink. Actually, I said it. I know guys.

This is what I'm doing. I'm doing a bit. Hey, Charlie. Huh? Oh yeah. Snap fingers. Let's dial in. Do I want to?

Yeah. I'm going to. I'm going to. I'm going to. I'm going to. I'm going bit, I'm telling a bit, Hey, Charlie, a bit, huh? Oh yeah. Snap fingers. Let's dial in. Do I, why do I, why do I, why? Oh, can we wear it? Yeah. Yeah. Don't put it on. All right. Well guys, for the first time ever, why don't you go take a seat there? A pussy cat. Um, you have, I like your whiskers. You have very nice whiskers. So tell us a little bit about Frank's lounge. You want another beer? Is that what you want? You want another beer? We'll take another beer for a pussy cat over here. So tell us what do you like to do in your spare time? Wow. Wow. Cocaine and hard drugs. I can't believe that. Can we, can we see your signature move? We All right. I thought maybe you're going to grab the wall and wiggle till you're

what happened when I was Charlie, you just missed it. What happened? Pussycat. The mascot of Frank's lounge just came out while you were in the bathroom. Yeah. No way. Like here? Where is pussycat? I don't know. He's left now, but yeah, you just missed him. That sucks. But obviously he didn't miss much. He didn't have very good moves. Really? He was kind of awkward. Yeah. He smelled like beef and cheese. Yeah. you didn't sack tap him, did you? No, I wouldn't. I wouldn't do that. Did he get you?

He attempted to twerk as well. Yeah, but his ass was kind of like just looks like a two by four. It wasn't a lot getting thrown around. Really? Yeah, it's not what I heard. I was talking to people back there. He's got a dump truck. He's got a dump truck.

He can dance like a stripper. I mean, they're impressed. So you must just not have much taste. Yeah. I mean, I guess I just don't have taste at a different perspective. Someone also said, I sack tapped you real hard. Who's who? Or I mean, he broke the rule. Next caller. Well guys, that's another episode of the bellied up podcast. Folks, you see it all here. Just not going to get this out of another podcast. No, no. We do understand that having a mascot on the podcast is bad podcast thing, but what were we supposed to do? Well, that's why we encourage him to watch the video on YouTube and Spotify, Spotify. That too. All

right, Charlie. Well, uh, should we take another caller? No, it's tips your bartender. We love you guys. How hot was it in there? Hot, hot. Yeah. Do you need a break? I mean, I need a water. There we go. Okay. Hope you guys have a good one. Goodbye now.