Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - They Help Fuel the #realtalk: Toronto Mike'd #601

Episode Date: March 23, 2020

Mike checks in with Toronto Mike'd partners who help fuel the #realtalk to learn how their business is adapting in the age of social distancing. Conversations are had with Austin Keitner from The Keitner Group, Anthony Petrucci from Palma Pasta, Laura Fitch from StickerYou.com, Troy Burtch from Great Lakes Brewery, Brad Jones from Ridley Funeral Home and Banjo Dunc from Whisky Jack.

Welcome to episode 601 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times and brewing amazing beer. Palma Pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh homemade Italian pasta and entrees From Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville StickerU.com Create custom stickers, labels, tattoos and decals For your home and your business The Keitner Group

They love helping buyers find their dream home. Text TORONOMIKE, one word, to 59559. And Banjo Dunk from Whiskey Jack. One of the most celebrated roots, country, bluegrass bands in Canadian music history. I'm Mike from toronomike.com and joining me this week are the Toronto Mike partners. They help fuel the real talk. How have they adapted their business to this era of social distancing?

I spoke with Austin Keitner from the Keitner Group, Anthony Petrucci from Palma Pasta, Laura Fitch from Sticker U, Troy Birch from Great Lakes Brewery, Brad Jones from Ridley Funeral Home and Banjo Dunk from Whiskey Jack. Austin Keitner from the Keitner Group. First and foremost,

how's the family, my friend? Family is doing great, all things considered. We have three very young kids and not being in school after March break is definitely a bummer. But we're connecting at a higher level, so we're enjoying that. Now, it's funny because it feels like we've been in social distancing lockdown forever. But this is actually the first day our kids missed school.

Because last week was a break anyways. Yeah, yeah. That would have been our cruise ship week, but obviously we did not do that. But you're right. This is now, we're now officially in uncharted territories. So what time can I drop off my kids? Yeah, kids are probably the worst

people to be not social distancing right now. They do not have any limits on what they touch and don't touch. And they can't stop touching their face. That's impossible. Yeah, hands in the mouth pretty much half of it. In the mouth? The hands are in the nose.

They like to just pick that nose. Well, nose to mouth, you're correct. Nose to mouth. So, Austin, I've still been biking. It's still safe to cycle, and every day I go for a bike ride. And a lot of my route is in, I guess I'll call this southwest Toronto, like the Mimico, New Toronto, Long Branch. And I'm still biking by plenty of Kytner Group signs,

like sold signs and for sale signs. Now, I want to know in this era of social distancing, if you could tell us what's changed in your world. You're still selling houses. Yeah, we've got eight actively listed on the market and we've got 10 that are coming on the market within the next week or two. 10 more.

So the big question is, how do you do an open house if we're not supposed to be gathering like that? Frankly, as of last weekend, we're not. What we're doing instead, you know, this is an opportunity for creativity and for the top priority safety. So we can do most of what we do.

We've already been doing it as a team. Some agents in the industry, a lot of agents in the industry, especially the top agents, have been using technology for a long time, especially with virtual showings and 3d tours and stuff like that. Um, and the market embraced it,

but the market is just embracing it a much higher level and teams like us and agents who have been utilizing this, um, are just positioned better to be able to serve the market that exists today. So, you know, for open houses, for example,

we might just this weekend put the word virtual in front of all our, uh, and on our open house signs and lead people to the property so they can see the curb appeal. They can see the street, they can see, uh, uh, what it looks like. And then when they get there, we're giving them the ability to text a keyword, uh, for the property address, for example, to 59559. And then they'll be able to have the virtual tour sent directly to their device. So they can actually stand in and walk through the house as if they're walk, virtually walk through the house as if they're actually walking through the house and get a 3D view of each

room and through various positions inside the house. So only the most qualified buyers are actually going to be allowed inside homes. And there's going to, there's a, there's a serious set of procedures and things that they have to agree to, to be allowed into the house. They can't have traveled in the last 14 days.

They're not allowed to bring children into the home. They have to limit the number of people in the house to two people, the agent and one of the buyers at a time. So there's a bunch of protocols in place, uh, to ensure the safety and the sellers have to agree to all this. So some sellers don't want anybody in the house, in which case people would have to bring offers conditional on being able to view the property, but only therefore the most serious buyers are allowed in.

And then we can do those, uh, no touching, no using the washroom, no children. We can still have those protocols in place for those extremely serious buyers. Well, that's great. I'm glad you said it, you know, safety first, as they say. So that's priority one. Your clients need to feel, you know,

absolutely safe. And in this, you know, 2020, when it comes time to like, I don't know, buyer and seller consultations, let's say somebody texts Toronto Mike to 59559 right now and they want like a home evaluation. You can jump on, I'm guessing, a FaceTime or like a Zoom video conference and you could do a total virtual consultation. Yeah, so we can just share our screen. And like I said, we've been doing this not so much with consultations, more so with buyer consultations.

Right. Seller consultations. This is only starting to be adopted now. I've got two of them today and it's the first time that we'll be doing seller consultations virtually. And we'll be getting tours of the house virtually from the seller. We know the market that we serve well enough to be able to get an idea of valuations and how it compares to other similar sales just because we've been inside the majority of the houses

that come and go on the market in our particular communities. So we'll be able to come to a pretty accurate pricing strategy. And then we'll be able to send in the vendors. So even the vendors who are doing these 3D tours have their own set of protocols where they're not allowing the homeowners to be home. They're bonded and insured and all that stuff. But they just go in and do the 3D tours when the sellers aren't home. And then we're able to distribute that to our database and online marketing

and all the different channels that we've always been using. I like to look... Yeah, first of all, that's amazing. It's all virtual now. It's like no touching. But I'm always looking for the opportunities in times like this. And one thing that will come out of this, and it's tragic that it's happening, but

the interest rates should be slashed because people are, you know, we need to incent expenditure, etc. Now, in that environment, theoretically, this is a great opportunity for real estate, right?

In that regard, yes. Money is cheap. The hard part is there's a lot of people losing their jobs and that's that's a real problem that's a real tragedy we're not actually we're not working with people right now who are not in a real need to either buy or sell their house like not just because we don't want to, but because the market doesn't want to, nobody wants to do anything right now unless they need to. So, you know, it's a precarious time. It's just uncharted territories. Like we are, we are just doing everything we can to, to help the people that need it right now. And yeah, I mean, interest rates are going to help people. Those who aren't

losing their jobs are still in a position to be able to lock out a mortgage and have a real need, whether it's because they've outgrown their space or because their lease is expiring, their landlord has to sell, whatever the case is. Right. There's real needs out there. There's real housing needs. And when, and I'm sure it will at some point, I don't have a crystal ball to tell us when or I would let you know, but at some point when things start to return to a state of normalcy, theoretically, this should be a great period of growth. Like this should be a very active period. People have kind of pressed the pause button for a while

and they're anxious to proceed with the next stage of their lives. And that should be a very active time. So this pause button, maybe that's an opportunity to have some virtual consultations and some chats and even a conversation with yourself and kind of get things set for when the you know, the pause button is hit again and we all rock and roll to make up for lost time.

That's the way I'm looking at it. Yeah, I mean, we're still having our conversations. A big part of our jobs as agents is just keeping in touch with the people that at some point have expressed an interest in buyers selling real estate. And our job is to keep them informed right now to, to keep them updated with the market sales.

I think we send you all the market data in your area too, Mike. Oh yeah, for sure. For sure. And you know, prior to the social distancing time you know, I'd get a knock on the door and there'd be, and Joel would be there in person, your brother. And you know, I love seeing that guy. So yeah, you guys are a great force in the community and I just can't wait till we get to a point

where, you know, you and I can meet at Great Lakes Brewery for a pint and talk about how we got through it. That's what I can't wait for. Yeah, yeah, through the social distancing, it's amazing how much connection there's actually been through, uh,

zooming or FaceTiming or whatever the medium is, but with people that you might not have otherwise, uh, reached out to, but I, I'm finding that we're getting a lot of social gatherings virtually, of course, um,

in these times. And, and although the, the term is social distancing, it's actually, I'm finding bring a lot of people close together. Absolutely. And I'm so glad I got this chance to chat up,

catch up with you because I've been reaching out to all the Toronto Mic partners. Things have changed in other industries. Like I have, of course, a Ridley Funeral Home, for example. You know, nowadays, what's different in a funeral home?

Well, you know, there's a lot of, you know, new rules, if you will, because we're used to having a bunch of different in a funeral home? Well, you know, there's a lot of, you know, new rules, if you will, because we're used to having a bunch of people in a room and a lot of hugging and kissing and, you know, crying on people's shoulders. So there's been some radical changes through this, and I wanted to find out what's new with the Keitner Group. Now, firstly, let the people know how to get in touch with you. And secondly, accept my great gratitude and thanks for fueling the real talk. I think it's get in touch with you and secondly accept my great gratitude and

thanks for fueling the real talk I think it's been amazing working with you and we didn't see this curveball coming but you just got to wait on it and kind of go opposite field with it I think we just got to get through it well we like working with you we love we love your listeners

a lot of them have reached out to us initially they'll reach out to us by texting Toronto Mike to 59559 because that'll be able to get us their contact information. Then we can start some dialogues. But yeah, I mean, people are reaching out to us from your listeners are reaching out to us for a variety of reasons, real estate related, not just because they want to buy or sell necessarily, but when they have questions about anything in the market or about how homes should be presented or about if open houses are necessary in the first place and all kinds of different things. So yeah, that's a great

way to reach out. Toronto Mike at 59559 to start a real estate dialogue in Toronto. Keep that family safe. And thanks again, Austin. Love you, brother. Thanks for letting me be on your show. Anthony, what's your official title at Palma Pasta? I am the owner and president of Palma Pasta.

Owner and president. How come you're not also the CEO? That's another title that I don't need right now. Do you have a CEO? No. Could I apply? Absolutely, my friend.

But right now we can only pay you in pasta. We don't have any toilet paper or anything, but we'll pay you in pasta. Hey, it's desperate times. I would take that deal. Tough times. Now, the social distancing, we're all adapting. I'm curious for specifics as to how palm pasta... Oh, before I proceed, Anthony, you can solve a question that we've had.

Is it pasta or pasta? Pasta. Oh, okay. I've been saying pasta naturally and people have told me it's pasta. Someone from Irish descent usually would say pasta, but it's pasta. I'm going back to pasta.

So for the record, from now on, Palma pasta. Okay. So how has Palma pasta adapted to the social distancing? Well, where do we begin? Right now, currently, and I'll just start from where we are in our offices, we're trying to communicate through phones only, not going into each other's offices. So if anyone is somewhere close,

try to stay at least a meter to two meters away from anyone. Everyone up in the offices is wearing gloves. Everyone has Purell. Everyone is washing their hands. So the social distancing from just an administrative part, we're managing. And now from manufacturing, same thing. Everyone is keeping their distance as much as possible. For those that want to wear masks, they're wearing masks.

Everyone, again, is wearing masks, they're wearing masks. Everyone, again, is wearing gloves, hairheads, everything. Everything is normal in that sense, but we're just trying to keep our distances, really not invading anyone's space in that sense. And the store levels as well. So from a social distancing standpoint, we're still operational, social distancing standpoint we're still operational but our teams at the stores production and administrative are trying to keep their distances as much as possible so that we can stay open for our clients who again really need the support as far as picking up meals and so forth comfort meals right now is probably one of the um things that people are turning to and just supplies so from our sense we've been trying to as much as possible within reason um trying to keep our distance from anyone because again they're they're saying that it's

airborne i don't know mike honestly um you're getting conflicting and many different things we're just trying to do the best as much as we can by keeping our distances from each other and from clients as well. Now you have the four locations. There's one in Oakville and there's three in Mississauga. And everyone who attended TMLX 5 has been to the Palmas Kitchen location.

So every FOTM who was at that fantastic event, by the way, you're a great host, so thank you for hosting TMLX5. You're welcome. Everyone saw that you have these great tables, like people would order their food at the hot table and kind of sit down, sort of like basically a restaurant, I guess.

I take it that that part of Palmer's Kitchen is closed. Yes, the seating, what we've done is we've put all the tables and chairs into a corner. No one can come in and sit down. However, you can at Palmer's Kitchen still come in and get your meal. We were contemplating that from last week as things turned when I think it was

the chief medical officer recommended that all restaurants and bars shut down, eating establishments be takeout only. And then when our mayor, Bonnie Crombie, Mrs. Saga, said that she's, I think, put in place that all restaurants and bars should be closed, only takeout. And that's what we've done at Palmer's Kitchen. Now, the other stores have only takeout anyway, so it didn't affect them. But it's affecting our Palmer's Kitchen drastically. We've probably saw half of our clients all come in just from that standpoint alone at our stores now from Palmer's Kitchen.

At the store level, they're still busy. People are still going in. But it's the unknown factor, Mike. I think people are afraid. I think people are scared. And they're not sure what to do. A lot of people are self-quarantining themselves just because they're afraid.

I mean, especially, I suffer from chronic bronchitis and I've had pneumonia, a thousand pneumonia in the past. So I'm concerned just along with everyone else. Now, that's partly why I wanted to do this episode because I want people to know that, you know, Palma's Kitchen and the other three location of palma pasta uh open for business like people still need to eat and if you're going to eat you might as well eat the most delicious italian authentic italian food available right so you can still pop in like i give these lasagnas out although i had to pause guests coming over. So it's okay if I eat the lasagnas I have in my freezer for guests.

I can eat those. Absolutely. Absolutely. For you and the family, I'm sure that everyone would enjoy them. You're a fan of a palm of pasta like a lot of people. Brings a tear to my eye. Please continue. Yes.

No. And again, what I was going to say as well, everyone is still, again, what we're offering to people as well as online services. So if people needed product, we can deliver. There's restrictions as far as delivered territory and everything. It's just a matter of us. It's tough for us to cope, Mike. And I think all levels of government, federal, provincial, and municipal, have all been, actually even the region, region of Peel,

have all been very, very helpful. They want to see everybody continue to do it because if the food supply chain breaks down, it's going to be panic and chaos. Which, I mean, you saw it for toilet paper. I mean, you saw just an item that wasn't even a even a food item that people were losing their minds over so you could imagine if the supply chain breaks down

now the one thing that concerns me from a food establishment is if the supply chain breaks down it's overtaxed right now because people have overbought and panic bought they're not going to be able to they're not going to be able to eat all this food that they bought. So what ends up happening is that you've emptied all the people who are supplying places like mine and unable to support that. Now it just doesn't

you don't fill that supply chain in a day or two. These take weeks, sometimes months. So it's concerning not just what's going to happen in a few weeks from now, I'm sorry, a few days from now, it's just weeks and months away. I mean, what I would suggest for everyone is just buy what you need. The supply chain will not break down if everyone just bought what they needed and didn't over

buy and panic buy. Everybody would be fine. And I think that's what we have to keep our eyes on. And that's what we have to make sure everyone understands. There's enough food for everyone. If everyone just buys what they need, some of the things that people have been buying, they're not able to,

they're not able to consume it. Right now, canned goods and stuff like that. Sure. Those can stay forever. But if you have people that have overbought and people that need it, like elderly or anyone else. I mean, everyone is in a tough position.

I think that what people need to realize or recognize is just buy what you need and just go along with it. There's plenty for everyone. No one's going to be without. The only thing is that, again, like we've seen with, again, on all levels of government, they're asking people not to panic buy. That's the worst thing that could happen to anyone, especially in the food chain.

Look, my worry is one day people are going to have to eat the toilet paper. You know what? That might be a thought. The amount of things that were happening, I mean, it's insane. I mean, really, is that something that anyone should go? But that's what happens.

It's human nature. It's human condition. Everyone goes into that survival. And unfortunately, what happens in that is that everybody loses their mind. But if you'll have the most sane people or calm people, go into that. Now, not everyone is like that. I'm not generalizing. I'm just saying that some people have basically overdone it.

So it's one of those things. How can anyone lose their minds over toilet paper? I know. Well, listen. It was one of those things that people did. I know. I saw the tweets and stuff. But I will tell you, the only product I've hoarded through this whole thing is

Palma Pasta lasagnas and Great Lakes beer. Okay. If anybody needs one, I can't wait till the social distancing relaxes and we can have a big get together. By the way, before we continue, I need to thank you for supporting the real talk. You're fueling the real talk. You're an independent business at Palma pastaasta. Not Palma Pasta, Palma Pasta. And you guys have been tremendous supporters of Toronto Mic'd. And I really cannot wait till December 2020 when we can all collect again at Palma's Kitchen and have another TMLX

and not worry about... Maybe we'll kiss each other a little less, maybe a little less hugging, I don't know. But we're definitely going to have some good times and some good food there. I'm looking forward to it. You know what? Honestly, it's far into the distance.

I think people are just thinking about next week, let alone into the fall or anything like that. But you know what? Having done that in 2019, December, doing it again, I'm looking forward to the things that we can actually get back to doing normal things. You miss those things. You really miss those things from a standpoint,

even from our standpoint. Some of our staff is very tense. They're not able to do the things that they normally do. And if you go past 6, 7 o'clock, it's eerie out there. So everyone's in the same boat, whether it be us as small business owners or consumers or people that are working for the government, anyone,

anyone that's in, in, in, in our, the challenges that we face right now, um, people are forced to, um,

uh, forced to, uh, sorry, Mike, I'm losing my train of thought here you need some lasagna yes

people are anxious and the one thing I really want to stress and I've had meetings with all our teams at all stores in the office production Palmas Kitchen I've just let them understand that everything's going to be okay if they're in any need for financial or anything,

we're all here together. And the government has supported that. I have to say from a, from a federal standpoint, provincial, and again, um, regional,

I've just been reading, uh, some of the things that have been coming out, which is, is what people need to know. So they're relaxing a lot of the deadlines that were out there, tax, um, tax deadlines, anything like that.

So from a federal standpoint, our prime minister, Justin Trudeau, came through as well. People want to be reassured. If they're reassured, then they can relax for a little bit while they try to just maintain trying to quarantine themselves, anything with this virus that's going around. So reassurances from the government is a prime example of how people can come together. I think that they're putting their mouths, their money where their mouths are, and they've really come through. Honestly, it's been pleasant.

How is the family doing? I know your kids are older. You don't have the problem I have where you've got rugrats running around. But how's the family? Healthy? Happy? Same thing.

Everybody's doing good. Again, my kids are in school, so they're not going to school. So some of them are still, again, working here part-time. But it's just, again, my wife is a my, again, my wife is a, is a teacher as well. So she is, everyone is inside, not that they want to, but at the same time. And if I can compare it to what, what is happening in Italy, we're probably a week behind. They've been two weeks already. I think it's in quarantine.

My cousins in Italy and Rome specifically, and not even from up north, have been on lockdown for two weeks. Wow. There's, I think, a 6 p.m. curfew. And they're strict about it. If anyone's out past that, they're fining you. Even on a bicycle? Even on a bicycle? Actually, the fine doubles if you're on a bicycle.

Especially if you're driving in a vehicle lane. In a snowstorm, it triples. On a serious note, I think it's just people getting out, just walking around. Again, just keeping your distance, just taking the precautions necessary, and especially those that have been mandated or recommended by our medical officers,

whether it be federal, provincial, we all just have to take care and be careful of what we're doing in our actions. It's not normal. Nothing is normal now. Right. And that's the most important thing. People have to realize, they have to understand that everything has changed.

Everything is fluid. So it's not just changing by week by week, day by day, it's hour by hour. And I hope that we're maintaining, sorry, Mike, and I hope that we're at least leveling off. That would be one of the most important things

for everyone to sort of, to remain calm to, is to understand that if everything levels off, not that there's going to be a decrease, but if it levels off, that would give people some relief to understand, okay, this thing is tailing off. But it doesn't mean that you go back to normal.

Nothing's going to be normal after that. In the Italian community, it's common to do the kisses. Whenever I say hello to an Italian, I end up with, I don't know, is it two kisses? How does it work again? One on each side? How does it work? Two kisses, one on each cheek. That was the

Italian thing, but that's not happening for a long time. So that's like, I'm just wondering, is life worth living if you don't get that kiss when you're a man? That's where you're getting it from. But again, my cousins, for example, they were

two weeks ago, we had this conversation, sorry, I just spoke to them days ago, but two weeks ago, they were two weeks ago. We had this conversation. Sorry, I just spoke to them days ago. But two weeks ago, they were telling me we were at where you guys were. Not taking this very seriously. Not as serious as it is right now. So we're a couple weeks behind where they were. And I think that we need to be ahead of the curve, not behind it, not reacting. I think the steps of closing the borders down

for unnecessary travel, I think all these things can help. I'm not sure it's going to solve it or stop it, but at least it can stop the spread. Okay, before we say goodbye, I just want you to be specific on how somebody can support Palmapasta. FOTMs out there want to support the sponsors that help to fuel the real talk.

And let's say there's people listening who aren't close to Mississauga or Oakville, and they can't make it to one of the four locations, which by the way, you can find those addresses if you go to palmapasta.com, learn where they are in Mississauga and Oakville. Remind us exactly how can we support you through digital means, like Skip the Dishes, Palmapasta.com. Please elaborate on that front. Well, Skip the Dishes only operates within a certain kilometers around our store,

which is from Palmas Kitchen. So it's only a 10-kilometer radius, I think, within that range. The other stores do not have it because it's only a 10 kilometer radius I think within that range the other stores do not have it because it's prepared meals however if there's an order that you would like to come out because people are getting so crazy if you want to visit one of the stores you can order your product

before you come in take a look at our website homepasta.com go on there and check it out you can even do your online ordering and if you want to pick something up at one of the stores, I will arrange for that too. Again, we have three people on the phones. You can call her nine zero five eight nine six nine thousand. That is the head office number you can call there. They can arrange for transferring your call to one of the stores or a location

near you. I think supporting small businesses, just not mine. Like I don't mean to make this a self with a selfish plug, but if we can support all small businesses because they're all going to need it. I, when we started, it was, it was, it was my mom, my dad, my sister and myself, four people. And when I see businesses that are suffering that are like we were 35 years ago, that's where I want you to draw support on as well. Remember, they need that support, especially now.

So whatever you're doing, if you can support local businesses, not just food, but any type of establishment that needs it, please do. I hope I don't butcher this, Godfather, but Tiamo. Tiamo, Mike. But Tiamo. Tiamo, Mike. Laura, what's your title at StickerU? I'm the director of PR.

See, I thought I'd start with the tough question. What's on your business card? Do you have a business card or a business sticker? That's a good question. I have a business card, but we have definitely discussed having business stickers before. So, yeah, what will happen on the end of the year? Yeah, you need business stickers. Like that way, like, I think for sure, sticker you business stickers. That's my idea. That one's free. You can have that one.

Thanks. Much appreciated. How are things aterU now that we're living in this era of social distancing? Has anything changed? Yeah, absolutely. You know, I think as it happens for many companies around the city, last week we became more aware of how serious the situation was. We reacted accordingly. So we have all non-essential workers working from home in order to social distance in the best way we can. Our production facilities are being disinfected on a regular timetable.

And all of our essential employees who are running the machines, they're all spaced out between each other. There's quite a bit of space. We're talking like six, seven, eight, nine feet between people. And, you know, they're getting more protection. They're getting gloves. They're getting sanitizers. Whatever we can provide them with to make sure that the environment is as safe as possible. Right.

Now, when I think of stickers, I mean, one of the things I think of, if you're having any kind of event, like be it a wedding or a conference, to me, that's key sticker or other things you sell at stickeru.com. Like that's where you bulk up. So I'm wondering okay one thing that seems to have paused during this period of social distancing is uh is events and weddings and these big gatherings uh but if i put on my creative hat which i do once in a blue moon i actually already did it today when i thought of the stickers instead of the business cards so but when i then i and i want to hear your thoughts on this because you've probably given it

more thought than i have but i'm thinking everyone now suddenly like including me has kids running around the house unexpectedly and who knows how long like so i'm already thinking about like the kids could draw something and we could get stickers and temporary tattoos like there's it's just when I started thinking about like entertaining kids for how many weeks I think of you guys

that's really kind of you to say I appreciate that I think that yeah I think that during this time there's going to be people wanting to help entertain kids or even to connect with each other and send messages of support to medical staff. We're seeing some customers put through artwork

that is very clearly meant to support the healthcare workers in their neighborhood. I know that some people are ordering stickers to sell, to raise money, to help different organizations that are involved in fighting the COVID cause. So, you know, in addition to, you know, the fun things you can do with kids that are homeless stickers, I think that, you know, people are really trying their best in any way that they can to make the situation easier for everyone, whether that's entertaining your kids at home or whether that's reaching out to your community or whether that's, you know, helping your neighbor.

And I think, you know, I'm glad that our product can be useful for those causes if they can be. product can be useful for those causes if they can be. And I think it's really beautiful to see how people are using whatever means they can to reach out to each other and try to provide some sense of normalcy, I guess, in those really uncertain times. You know, you just triggered another, I can't believe it, three ideas in one day. I feel like I need a nap. This is too much. But here's what I'm thinking. Okay, so this happened on St. Patrick's Day, which now I'm thinking that was six months ago, but it was probably, possibly, was it yesterday? No, two days ago.

Right. Okay. So right now people have like so limited, their options are pretty limited. But one of the things people are still doing, like practicing social distancing, of course, but people are still going for walks. Like you go for a walk with the family and then you try to not get too close

to people. Fine. But, uh, on St. Patrick's day, word got out through like Facebook or something that like kids were going for walks safely with their parents and looking into people's

windows for like shamrocks okay so we we put two shamrocks in the window because like you're right in this era complete this this this we've taken all the so many entertainment options away but you can still go for a walk and you can see something in the window that can put a smile on your face or cheer you up. And now my brain thinks like, yeah, like I'm looking right now at the decals on my wall here. And I see, you know, I see the wonderful Toronto Mike logo there and everything. And I'm thinking, yeah, like now is a time to, you can put things in your window that could be seen by people walking or biking by, especially as the weather improves. That's going to happen more and more.

And that's something you can do that's completely safe from a social distancing standpoint. And a way to help. I always tell FOTMs to support the wonderful businesses that help fuel the real talk. And of course, that's you guys. So again, that's just another freebie, okay? If I get a fourth idea, I'm shutting this down. You're both freebies today. It's wonderful.

Yeah, I think... Sorry. No, no, no. Please. Let's hear your voice. People are sick of my voice. Just to add on that, I think that you're voice. People are sick of my voice. Just to add on that, I think that, you know, I think you're right. People want to send positive messages out there. And, you know, even going outside, you know, I go for a run every morning and I'm seeing more people on the streets in the morning,

like I think trying to get out of the house. And even just, you know, when you're seeing people passing by on the street, if you give them a smile, you know, maybe you're keeping your distance, but you can at least show them some kindness, right? And whether that's something you put up in your window or whether that's, you know, something that you give away to people. Um, I think for us, you know, as a company, we want to, you know, be able to add to that. And so we're actually printing out a number of stickers that have images that support healthcare workers and we're going to be dispersing them for free. Oh wow.

Just to certain locations. Unfortunately we're not able to just give them for free to everybody but we are going to be dispersing them to specific people in order for them to hand out to people to support our medical care workers and let them know that what they're doing is really important. That's awesome. And I mean, if we are looking for a silver lining, because this happened and we're living in this reality, but I'm always looking for like uh how can i make some

lemonade here and one place i'm seeing it is that gestures like that like because because we're all in this together which is kind of a rarity really when something happens and like you know in a stanley cup final you know you got some people rooting for you against you a bunch of people are indifferent maybe the closest we had in this country was like 2010 gold medal game in in in uh vancouver right with sydney crosby but but this is all you know we're all so displaced and and and some people don't have that even on the radar but this we're all in this together and just as a community coming together by staying apart i didn't come up with that line. I wish I had, but I think I stole it from somewhere,

but it's exactly right. Stuff like that. Just be kind. We're going to get through this. It's going to kind of hurt for a bit, particularly our wallets and maybe even our mental state of mind. But when we get through this, think about that period of growth.

Think about what will happen when we return to normalcy. And in theory, how much better we could be because we endured this. Yeah, I completely agree. I think it's interesting. It's interesting to think about what's going to happen in the future because it's so unknown, you know. Like, I don't think any of us have really been through something like this before. And I like the idea of thinking about when it's over, right? Not if, but more like when, you know.

And I think you're right. When it's over, we're all going to have come through something that I think makes us stronger. over, we're all going to have come through something that I think makes us stronger. I think we're in a really interesting place right now because I think that this has kind of dissembled the daily structure of work and of economy and things that were normally in place before. And it's shaken them up and it's shown that we can be very adaptable and we can move quickly to aid things when we really need to. Um, and I think that on mass, all of us seeing that this is a possibility that we can act on important matters, that we can come together

and, um, help each other and get through something major. I think that's really going to affect us in positive ways once this has passed. Because we'll know that the possibilities are there. We'll know what we can access when we need to. We know that we can come together and help each other in a time when it's really difficult. And I think that's priceless, knowing that. All right. One more idea that just struck me. Okay. So one thing we've all stopped doing, in fact, this was the first, this was the first thing that changed in my day to day.

The first thing that disappeared was the handshake when I met people for the first time. Okay. That was the first thing that went. So a guest would come to the door. Normally I handshake, hi, I'm Mike. Nice to meet you. Let's record some gold. And that went away. So now I'm thinking when this is, when we come through this, let's not, let's not bring back the handshake. It was probably a bad idea all along. Like, like let's, let's not bring back the handshake. Let's replace it. When you meet someone, you give them your custom sticker. I'm pausing. I'm pausing for applause. All right, that one's not as good as the others, but you think about it.

Yeah. Well, you know what? Like nine out of 10 ain't bad, right? I feel like meatloaf here. Laura, thanks so much for taking a few minutes and chatting with me as I catch up with all Toronto Mic'd partners. And thank you so much for being a partner and for fueling the real talk. Again,

we're all in it together. Just please stay safe, stay healthy, say hi to my sticker. You buddies, Andrew and Shem. I will. Absolutely.

And thank you for doing what you're doing for letting people know that we're all in it together. Everybody stay safe, stay healthy. Hey, Troy, what is your official title over there at Great Lakes Brewery? Chief Beer Drinker. Bricketing and Communications Manager. I'm checking in with all Toronto Mike partners. Firstly, thank you for years of tremendous support and helping to fuel the real talk.

Uh, it's been fantastic working with you guys. No, it's always been an awesome pleasure. Mike, how have things, uh, changed as you've adapted at great lakes brewery to the social, uh, distancing? How have things changed at great've adapted at Great Lakes Brewery to the social distancing?

How have things changed at Great Lakes? Well, since it first started about a week ago, I guess, is when everything kind of was in the news a lot more than we're seeing in European countries. And the government's decision to close all bars and restaurants the other day. We have been meeting as a team here since last Wednesday. And it seems no matter what we do, that plan changes within half an hour or, I know, a day. And so we continue to adapt and look at how we can sell beer, how we can keep staff employed, how we can make sure our customers are getting the beer.

Because we are a community hub here in Etobicoke, the taproom, which is shut down now, but the taproom is a place for locals to hang out in. The taproom, which is shut down now, but the taproom is a place for locals to hang out in. So we've had to amend our business and restructure kind of our operations. So the two things I'm guessing, you'll correct me if I'm wrong, but the two things that have changed is that, yes, we can definitely still go to 30 Queen Elizabeth Boulevard and stock up on fresh Great Lakes craft beer. Like we can still do that as of this recording. Yeah.

So we switched our operating hours Monday to Friday to 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. We are retail only. So no drinking inside the taproom. No flights, no samples, no pours. We've increased our terminals, our point of sale system. So we don't have a lineup or we don't have kind of clustered buying. We've rejigged the store. So it looks a lot different than what people are used to.

But yes, and thanks for the address drop there 30 queen elizabeth yeah you can come down 11 to 7 seven days a week and buy fresh glb like if you're going to the costco to buy toilet paper the obvious uh stop on your way home is to stock up on your great lakes so no lie last thursday friday saturday and sunday we were getting customers that were coming from Costco because they were parked down the street in front of the brewery and further down, and they were wheeling their carts by full of food, toilet paper, whatever,

and then they were stopping in on the way, grabbing six, seven cases of beer. I was there because I saw on Instagram at the Great Lakes account, you Instagrammed a photo, but I was there because I saw on Instagram at the Great Lakes account, you Instagrammed a photo, but I was there, I think, Friday to stock up with my bike trailer. And it was bananas in there. Like, it was like, you know, Christmas Eve or something. I don't even know if it's busy on Christmas Eve, but it was busy. And that's so now you've got you still sell the beer at the retail store.

You can't pop in and share a drink of a friend or do the sampling but what about on the events side like for example i want to have a big tmlx6 at great lakes brewery in june but i don't have a crystal ball to know if we're allowed to do that so So is it essentially like, I guess, no, are you still having events or have events been kiboshed until the thing settled down? Everything has been postponed, canceled or delayed until further notice. All of our internal events that we organized here at the brewery have been postponed or outright canceled.

All the internal events that we book through our Canuck Lounge have been postponed indefinitely and or rescheduled to a later date. So I should watch the news to know when I can have TMLX6 at Great Lakes. Yeah, like we said, we're different than a bar or restaurant, but we act like a bar or restaurant in terms of events, licensing, and we've suspended our food options as well. So the Wavy Wall Craft Kitchen is closed until further notice too. So we're in the same boat that you are.

We listen and react to the rapidly changing news, both federally, provincially, and municipal updates. So because I heard Doug Ford say this yesterday, LCBO is still open. So right now, the two ways to support Great Lakes and really you're doing yourself a favor because it's the it's the freshest, tastiest craft beer you can buy in this province. But the two ways to support you guys, especially in these trying times where, you know, events are on hold and different things have been paused, is you can still go to the retail store at 30 Queen Elizabeth Boulevard,

not too far from Royal York and Queensway. You can still go there and purchase your beer to take it home, and you can still find tasty Great Lakes beer in LCBOs across the province, right? LCBOs and grocery stores. So we're in every grocery store that has a license to sell craft beer. And so your local Metro, Loblaws, Sobeys, No Frills, you name it. If they have beer, we're there. Our licensee, or sorry, our retail channel sales team that, uh, covers

LTOs, grocery and beer stores. They're all, um, working the phones from home. Um, they're getting orders out to, uh, to those stores and we're trying to keep up right now with, uh, with the demand. Um, we're, we're lucky that we have such a good footprint in Ontario. 33 years of business has helped us achieve that but we're focusing on our retail channels right now because as we all know bars and restaurants who you love to support in all different ways

they can't sell very now so so we're adapting and looking at new ways to get product there and one of those could be online sales which we're adapting and looking at new ways to get our product out there. And one of those ways could be online sales, which we're working on. All right. As our internet starts to fail us here at the end, I think that's a sign. But I see you're drinking the Canuck Pale Ale. And I'm... It's in the bloodstream. But again, I thank you for supporting the real talk and all FOTMs listening to us right

now should go out and pick up some great lakes at the retail store or in some grocery stores or at the LCBOs support the independent, the fiercely independent breweries that are supporting the real talk. And dude, we're going to maybe once in a while, as things rapidly change and progress, we can check in and see how you guys are faring.

Anytime, Mr. Toronto Mike. I like that. Troy, thanks a lot. Take care, buddy. Anytime, Kip. Tipping that glass in the right direction. Brad, what's your official title at Ridley Funeral Home? President, I guess, but I'm just a funeral director. Just a funeral director.

You're the funeral director. I actually just spoke with Anthony at Palma Pasta and asked him that same question, and he said, owner and president, and I wondered why he didn't throw CEO in there as well, but you could probably do the same. Probably could, yeah. I'm the chief bottle washer and everything.

Right. Now, I have so many questions for you, but firstly, how's the family going? I always think I have a large family, and then I think of Brad Jones from Ridley Funeral Home. You've got a large family. How is everybody doing? We're doing good. We have six kids.

Two of them are essentially out of the house. One just got sent home from university, and one's in his last year of high school, so he's a little stressed and ticked that school has ended. We have our next year, first year of high school. She seems okay with it, and our youngest is in grade four, so she doesn't really care that she's in school or not. But everybody's healthy.

They're all healthy. Yeah. They're all healthy. Yeah, they're all healthy. The good thing about having that many kids and living at a funeral home is when we're busy, they all end up getting to come and help work. Right, right. Now, we're living in this age of social distancing and everybody's had to sort of adapt and modify their day-to-day practices. And I'm thinking of Ridley Funeral Home. You're so close, I could, you know, I could throw a tennis ball and probably hit Ridley Funeral Home. But as we practice social distancing, we're doing this on the phone, which is a safe policy. But how have things changed professionally for you since the pandemic?

Well, it's changed quite a bit. We had a funeral service yesterday, and the gentleman who had died owned a couple of restaurants through his career. There probably should have been at least 150 or 200 people at his service, and there was probably around maybe 35 people that were in attendance at the church. Wow. Talking to the priest, it was the last funeral he's going to be doing at church because they'll be shutting them down. So it's definitely changing the way people are being able to interact with friends and family in a highly stressful time.

And the sad part is a lot of the deaths that we're dealing with are not Corona, the COVID-19 related. They're from other health issues. You know, they always say life and death go on, and it's true. And they're, you know, helping families that are having a terrible time, but they're not being able to get the support that they would normally have received from their friends and community. Right. Really, when I think about, you know, attending the funeral of a loved one,

there's a lot of hugging. There's a lot of putting your arm around someone's shoulder and sharing a tear or two. And I guess in this age of social distancing, people aren't supposed to be doing that. They're not. We've posted up notices on our website. We've posted up notices in our lobby, in our rooms, asking people to keep a safe distance, not hugging and kissing and not even to shake hands.

We've recommended when we've had people call what they should do and we're telling the same thing. and not even to shake hands. We've recommended when we've had people call what they should do, and we're telling the same thing. Keep your hands in your pockets because it's our natural reaction when you're meeting a friend whose mom died or a brother-in-law or a sister-in-law is to shake their hand, to give them a hug, to hold them close.

And it's a chore for families not to be able to do that and to find other ways to communicate but you know i think people are doing that you know we're getting families that they're getting a lot of um phone calls that they you know people that would love to have come but they're they're falling to to send their condolences and through social media um it's probably not the best form of way to interact with somebody who's just had a death, but right now it's a safe way to interact with people. And now as we speak, I realize how difficult it would be because when you go to somebody's funeral,

let's say your friend's mom passed away, and at that funeral, typically you'll encounter so many people that you know from walks of life, maybe days gone past, like a bunch of people you used to work with or a bunch of people you went to high school with and people you haven't seen in a while. And yeah, you want to shake their hand, get close to catch up. to shake their hand, get close to catch up. And yeah, there's a lot of natural inclinations to have a physical contact with people as they bereave. And wow.

So you're still having funerals at Ridley Funeral Home, right? We are. The latest information we received, we're still going with what we're getting from the Public Health Agency of Canada or even from the province. Gatherings under 50 are still being allowed. For how much longer, I'm not too sure

how long that will continue. But as long as it's still allowed, we'll still continue to serve families in that capacity. We're constantly cleaning the funeral home. We're on it almost every hour, wiping down all surfaces, doorknobs, handles, everything that we can possibly do to keep people safe. We've got as much hand sanitizer as we can around and encouraging people to keep their hands washed. I think we're reacting like a lot of businesses, but the big thing is when they do close down businesses,

when they close down restaurants and bars and theaters, the one thing that they won't be closing totally will be funeral homes. Even when other industries are shuttered, we'll still be operating because there are still going to be people that are needing services, whether to be barrier cremates, to be picking up the deceased, and helping families on that journey. And now we're also looking at what to do in the future. Because if it comes to the point where people are not allowed to have funerals, like we've seen in some countries around the world,

where in Italy there's no funerals allowed, if it comes to that here in Ontario and Toronto, we'll definitely respect it and we'll do what we're legally allowed to do. But then we're going to be looking at ways that we can help families in the future, legally allowed to do, but then we'll be looking at ways that we can help families in the future, whether it's postponing services or encouraging them to have a gathering in two, three months when the dust has settled and everyone is safe to get back together to honor the lives that have been lost. Like any business, of course, you're staying on top of this it sounds like uh and we all know how

rapidly things are changing i mean uh you know you're adapting to sort of the latest news and then an hour later it's changed again so uh i suppose a good chunk of your time right now as chief bottle washer is uh is getting the latest information from the health experts on what is appropriate and allowed in your line of work. Well, definitely. And it's even just making sure that we have our staff safe because we've been struggling to get enough of what they call PPE, the personal protection equipment, masks, visors. We have gloves and things like that, but we're struggling to get the N95 masks.

I completely agree that our frontline health care workers need them more. And they need to be safe and they need to be able to help people. and they need to be safe and they need to be able to help people. But our concern in the funeral industry is keeping our staff safe because we'll be still dealing with the deceased, and from what we've learned from all the health experts is the virus stays on contact with clothing, with pouching, even with the body. So we've got definitely some safe practices in place to keep our staff safe, which will, as long as we're keeping safe, then we can keep the public safe.

It's a big concern. I don't want to see any of our people get sick, or we have lots of range of people and age and health issues. So it's a concern like I think everyone has. But I do believe that it's all of our responsibility. It can't just be the government that has to take care of us. It's families that have to take care of each other. It's businesses that have to take care of their employees

and the people that they serve. If everyone works together and everyone does what we're supposed to do, and just like today, we're doing some phone calls between you and I, social distancing, and if we all do our part, I think we can get through this all right.

Now, if somebody wants to get a hold of you, Brad, ask you any questions about funeral services or cremation or anything. Help us. What's the best way to reach you? They call our main line, 416-259-3705. They can reach us 24 hours a day. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day.

They can speak to a director at any time. And they send me emails. My emails come to my phone. So they do get answered quite a bit through, I'd say, almost about 18 hours a day. So that would be bradjones at ridleyfuneralhome.com. bradjones at ridleyfuneralhome.com. Thank you.

It goes without saying, I appreciate your support and I've enjoyed working with you.com Thank you. It goes without saying I appreciate your support and I've enjoyed working with you. Good luck. Stay safe during this, I'll use the word that's been used most often, but these unprecedented times. Maybe we'll check in as things

evolve and progress and see how you're doing. Thanks so much for this conversation. I appreciate you reaching out and hopefully everyone you're doing. But thanks so much for this conversation. No, I appreciate you reaching out, and hopefully everyone keeps safe today. Banjo-Dunk, how's it going, my friend? Yeah, well, I'm probably better off than many. I live very close to St. Jamestown. I look out my window and

I thank my lucky stars. There's a lot of minimum wage workers that live there and I feel very, very grateful. Well, that's a good attitude. I've been worried about you because I've been talking for months about a big event. I don't know if you've heard about this, but there's a big event at Zoomer Hall in mid-April. There's a few events coming up, yes. Yeah, so it's all on hold. Well, it's not on hold, actually. I spoke to the producer a few days ago, and they're in a wait-and-see mode,

as is I have a big tour coming up in the Maritimes in May that is in a wait and see mode I have a big tour coming up with Sean Cullen late in May that too is a wait and see so my whole life is on hold I feel for you man I just I really am glad you took this call and we could find out because I've been talking to partners of Toronto Mike and that includes, you know, we'll talk to a local, you know, Great Lakes brewery and find out what's different there. And then we'll talk to Palm of Pasta, find out what's different. I just talked to Brad from Ridley Funeral Homes because think about the

funeral home industry and what's changed there with social distancing. industry and what's changed there with social distancing but i really feel for like uh performers like entertainers musicians because nobody's going to live shows right now well that's not actually that's not true because there there is a lot of uh there is a lot of streaming going on and and for every person that's streaming, there's another five musicians that are planning to stream. So there will be a lot of live music on social media. They just won't have an audience of a human being sitting there applauding at their effort.

But yeah, even the bigwigs, Neil Young and a lot of the bigwigs, they're doing live streaming as well. But as I learned... Oh, I'm so sorry for talking over you there. But as I learned on the Sam Grosso episode, which was awesome. And by the way, the feedback on the Sam Grosso episode was that you should be the permanent co-host. Oh, no, I couldn't.

Your son is way better. He's way cuter. He's way cuter than I am. Well, he's going to be hanging around for a while, I hear. So that's a whole separate story. But I learned in the Sam Grosso episode, I always, Grosso, I'm going to go with Grosso.

I learned that, you know, after you perform, typically a bucket goes around. Is that right? Yeah, usually. Well, at the Cadillac Lounge, we used to use, you know, those jugs that you used to fill draft beer with? Oh, yes. And then you buy a jug. I don't know if you even do that anymore.

Is that a growler? I don't know. I never heard that. Oh, okay. But I assume some of these bars still have, you can buy a jug of draft i don't know but anyway we would take an empty jug and one of us would walk around and and plead with the uh with the clientele to pony up uh that was just to top up what what sam already gave us he was very generous he was as we talked about on that podcast he was the only one that we knew that was that generous.

And so he allowed us to use the jug. And so we came out of it, you know, at least with a few bucks. But when you're live streaming, I guess my point is that when you live stream, is there a virtual jug that goes around? Because it's going to hurt the pocketbook. Well, it wouldn't work. I mean, there is a way. I have a webpage that would be able to accommodate that.

It's a form of, I guess, musician crowdfunding, something like that. But given the needs that many others are going to have, I personally would be hard pressed to plead with my clientele to send us money. There is busking I suppose if people could stand six feet away from us and toss us, my suggestion would be to fold the $20 bills up into little airplanes and send them to us from six feet away and they could probably probably hit the, the, the, the hat pretty nicely, quite nicely. But I don't, you know, no, I think,

I think we're just kind of screwed on this front for now. I don't think there's an easy way for us to be reimbursed for our efforts. I think the key for my focus is to keep the energy that I've built up over these last 43 years. It's always a challenge to keep everybody in the act, whether it's a duo with Douglas or whether it's the band with Whiskey Jack, is to keep them focused on a goal. That's why I always had to have a gig.

So now I'm planning, if we can all agree to meet in the same room for a period of time, I'm planning to record a concert with this combo in the next, you know, we'll see how it all unfolds. So that'll be our goal. We have a set list. We know what it is we want to do. I think there's potentially ways to do this with even an audience if we're outside kind of thing. I have a friend who owns a beautiful double garage and we put up the door of the garage and I can have people sitting in their lawn chairs in the driveway or something and six feet apart and they could be enjoying this. You know, we just have to be creative here in how to make this happen and we could, you know, pass the jug and stuff. be creative here and how to, how to make this happen. And we could, you know,

pass the jug and stuff, but I think money is kind of, um, been removed from our musical equation, uh, right now. And it's, uh, it's disturbing, but boy, it's far reaching. Like I was thinking the other day, uh, there's an agent, a really swell person, really great guy, uh, Don Coleman that I work with in Eastern Canada. And he worked so hard, long and hard, on the phone, rejection after, you know, like this is a hard gig. And all of the work that he's done in the last six months

to build up these tours that we're doing with him, it's gone. Wow. There it is. Like, so what's, you know, what's the poor guy supposed to do? And there's lots. Wow. There it is. Like, so what's, you know, what's the poor guy supposed to do? And there's lots like him. Like there's, you know, there's many, many others that manage Jacks. Anybody who manages, I don't know who manages the big shots, like, like the Cuddies and the, you know, the Sloans and those people. But, you know, or the Barenaked Ladies, I suppose, even, even on that level, everyone's going to be hurting on this.

So, I don't know. I was thinking the other day too, Mike hurting on this. So I don't know. I was thinking the other day too, Mike, that I heard, I don't know, I don't follow the news too closely, but I heard that some of the wealthier hockey players or some of the wealthier sports figures are ponying up some of their millions to help the lesser, the people that maybe serve hot dogs. I don't know exactly how they do it.

You know, I heard the same. You're right. Helping the arena workers who simply, if they don't work, they don't get paid. So there's a whole, you're right. It's a trickle down in that it's wide ranging. The amount of number of people who simply have their livelihoods either put on hold or dramatically trimmed down. They're everywhere.

And that's why I was curious about somebody like yourself. I'm looking right now at my good times of Stompin' Tom. Maybe every FOTM who's listening right now can help Duncan Fremlin, who I call Banjo Dunk, out by going to, is it hellooutthere.ca? Is that where you'd like people to go? That's it. No, that's it, yeah. Hellooutthere.ca and pick up my Good Times of Stompin' Tom.

Every guest of Toronto Mic'd has been receiving a copy of this book, warmly receiving, I'll point out. Now, on that front, though, for a period of time now, I'm not having live guests, so unless you have a PDF version of this book, we're going to have difficulty sharing it. But we'll get through this, right, Don? Give us some positive words. What would Stompin' Tom say about this?

Yeah, well, first of all, he'd have a song. I know he always said he writes when there's a need. You know, when Canada was going through their existential despair back in the late 80s and early 90s when we were dealing with free trade and GST and Mulroney, et cetera, and Tom, you know, there were people suggesting that they were going to move to the States because life was better there. And boy, that got that got them all riled up. And so he started to write a series of songs about, you know, if you don't believe in your country, if you don't believe your country should come before yourself, you'd better serve your country by living somewhere else.

Well, that's pretty, you know, pretty draconian kind of way to look at it. But that's how he felt. My guess is he would. It's funny, I was talking to Douglas about this yesterday, Douglas John Cameron, my music partner. We said, we asked each other the same thing, what would Tom do? And I said, well, of course he'd write a song about this. Now, I'm not the songwriter, but maybe this interview,

maybe we can prod Douglas John into, because he's, as we know, a brilliant lyricist and a great songwriter, and so maybe we can prod him into putting something. Did you read the thing, Mike? There was a guy who rewrote the hockey song. No. And I just, can I? Go ahead.

There's no name to it. It was sent by a guy named Kurt Ardron or something. I don't know if he actually wrote this or not, but it goes like this. Hello out there. We're off the air. No hockey night tonight. Gates are closed. Tension grows. No pucks goes down the ice. The players wait to hear their fate. This corona is a pain. As it stands, wash your hands to resume the hockey game. Very good. There you go. There you go.

The ghost of Stompin' Tom wrote that, I think. So now you have, we won't go into too many specifics, but you have a, there's diversity in your revenue flow. So you're not a hundred percent full-time musician. Right. And also I have a lovely bride who contributes to the finances of the household. And I would imagine that there are very, very many full-time musicians who have enjoyed that. And full-time podcast producers, too. It really comes in handy.

Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. So, no, there will be food on the table as long as there's food in the grocery store, so at least in the short term. But, man, oh, oh man I was talking to my editor Jim Bain the former editor with the Montreal Gazette

he edited my book with me and he travels with me on the show and sells merchandise and helps out with the band and everything and I was talking to him about the never you know that my father was born in the early 1906 so he lived through first war depression, second war, and all these,

all these incredibly disruptive events. And so for him, you know, his generation, they lived through an amazing amount of uncertainty. And it makes what we're going through the last few days kind of, kind of tame by comparison, but we could easily be that, you know, that dramatic, like I'm sure it'll be life altering for, for most of us. But, uh, so just, I try to think back to those, to that generation, just to keep it all in perspective kind of thing. You know, we've had a pretty privileged few decades. It's certainly my lifetime.

And, uh, so I think we're up to it. I think we can manage this. We're going to get through this. We're all in it together. There's actually almost a comfort in that thought that we're all in it together. This is something that's literally unifying every human being on planet Earth.

On the planet. Has that ever happened before? I don't think so. I think this is it. It's almost like if aliens ever invaded, suddenly it wouldn't matter what your nationality was or what your political stripe was. Like, we are human beings and together. So this is sort of like the alien invasion that unites us all.

Yeah, yeah. There's a book that was written many years ago called The Andromeda Strain. Oh, yes. It was written by a guy named Crickton or something. And there was a movie made of that. And I don't know. It's been a long time since I visited that book or the movie. I'll have to dig it up. But I think that was kind of a harbinger of things to come, that idea. This has been around in science fiction for years, but hey, not science fiction now. No, it's here now.

We're going to deal with it the best we can. Continue our social distancing. Can you help me with something, Mike? I have a question for you. You know how I love to sit here in my crummy little recording studio and record these ads that I've been putting on. What am I going to do, Mike? I don't know what to say now. Why don't you encourage us?

I think if we just hear a little banjo dunk, can you just take out the banjo maybe? Give a strum a few notes and then let us know that everything's going to be okay. Hang in there. We're all in this together. Okay, I can do that. I'll do that. Dunk, it's great catching up with you.

Keep your chin up and think about this when all this is behind us and things return to a semblance of normalcy we're all going to

gather on the patio of Great Lakes Brewery for a TMLX and you will be there with your hat and your banjo and we're going to

have a great time and it's that's something for us all to look forward to. I'm looking forward to that big time. Take care, Banjo Dunk. Thank you.

See you, Toronto Mike. And that brings us to the end of our 601st show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. But mainly, I hope you support the Toronto Mike partners, the businesses that have stepped up to help fuel the real talk. This is tough on all of us. We're all in this together.

But let's show them that we appreciate their support. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery, they're at Great Lakes Beer, Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta, Sticker U is at Sticker U, The Keitner Group are at The Keitner Group, Banjo Dunk is at Banjo Dunk with a C, and Ridley Funeral Home are at RidleyFH. See you all next week. This podcast is brought to you by And I don't know what the future can hold or do

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