Pamela: 0:00

We would have a barn of cars. Like let me just like that would be my daily. But like I would have probably an Aston Martin.

Josh: 0:10

Yes, I was about to say an Aston.

Pamela: 0:12

Some sort of like Jeep Hummer tank situation.

Josh: 0:18

Needs to be bulletproof.

Pamela: 0:19

Yeah, like I would, yeah. Mm-hmm. I would have I would have quite the collection.

Josh: 0:24

Yeah, I'd have a Pope Mobile for no reason at all.

Pamela: 0:27

Like just an old hearst.

Josh: 0:31

I mean, you could have a lot of fun with the inside of one of those.

Pamela: 0:35

Limo.

Josh: 0:35

Uh-huh.

Pamela: 0:44

You're listening to premeditated opinions because yes, we thought about it, and then we said it anyway. I'm Pamela.

Josh: 0:51

And I'm Josh, and we are two people who somehow share a brain and decided to weaponize our brains with microphones. Each week, we unpack anything from politics and religion to carpool dread and everything in between.

Pamela: 1:04

You know, it would really help us a lot if you followed us on Instagram and YouTube. Giving us a like and a follow is probably the best thing your thumbs will do today.

Josh: 1:12

We are not experts. We are just way too confident in our own opinions. With all that being said, let's get started. Hello. Happy New Year again. I know we just got done wishing you that, but we're just gonna wish it until we don't feel like it anymore.

Pamela: 1:26

Yeah, because it's New Year's Eve and we do what we want.

Josh: 1:28

Right, exactly.

Pamela: 1:28

It's still 2025 now, so you all are being subjected to 2025, Josh and Pamela.

Josh: 1:35

Right, yeah. We have and we haven't reset yet in the new year. Still immature, still a bunch of jerks. Yeah. We're all over the place.

Pamela: 1:43

Still in the old shenanigans. So we can we can shenanigan in 2025 if we want.

Josh: 1:49

Yes, we make the rules. So um, yeah, we are we're thrilled. So what we're gonna do today is we wanted to kind of bring some good mojo into 2026. However, we did kind of get some lousy news a couple of days ago.

Pamela: 2:05

Yeah, we weren't bajillionaires with the Powerball. So rude.

Josh: 2:11

I know. Somebody in Arkansas won the whole freaking thing. They didn't share.

Pamela: 2:15

They didn't 1.7 billion, I think.

Josh: 2:17

Yeah.

Pamela: 2:18

With a payout of like 786 million for one like I can't, I can't even fathom just one day having that much money.

Josh: 2:26

Yeah, yeah. Well, and that's why so many people kind of fall apart once they actually win that kind of money, is because they they there's actually a tremendous amount of stress and pressure that comes with that kind of windfall. Being a 700 millionaire, right, yes, yeah. So if you won all of that money, where's the first place you would buy your second home? So, like a vacation home. First vacation home you would buy. Where where would it be?

Pamela: 2:55

Probably Santorini, Greece.

Josh: 2:58

Re okay. Respect. That's a good call. I like that. Yeah, Santorini is gorgeous. I've never been, but I've seen plenty of photos. Yep. Yeah. Well, yeah, I I uh I asked Krista the same question, and she basically picked like Southern California, like Malibu vibes, where you know she can just walk out to the beach. However, I don't know, I kind of like Santorini better. Like, I mean it's a longer plane route.

Pamela: 3:26

I mean, if we're talking seven, eight hundred million dollars, my second home is not gonna be in the States.

Josh: 3:32

No, no, no, no, no.

Pamela: 3:33

Like I'm thinking bigger.

Josh: 3:35

Yeah, absolutely. And I I don't even know, like I stumbled on this Reddit thread not that long ago that was asking, like, okay, so in serious, in all seriousness, if someone wins the Powerball, what are the logical next steps? Like, what should you actually do? Yeah, I saved the thread. I'm not ever gonna need it, but I saved it. And it was very interesting. Um, and basically the the general consensus is recruit professionals immediately. Yeah. Like CPAs, estate attorneys, all that stuff.

Pamela: 4:08

Josh and I've talked about like first thing we would do, get a financial advisor, get an attorney, get an accountant, like and make sure we have all of that squared away, trusts squared away, figure out like how much we're gonna donate and don't wear, and then like kind of be responsible with it, and then like what's left would get distributed probably to friends and family, and then it's whatever we want to do with it after that. Especially with that amount of money, yes, yeah, you know, like if it were like a million dollars, which is still not chump change, right? We would still do the same thing, but you know, obviously the scale would be a lot smaller.

Josh: 4:52

Yeah, and the scale really matters in something like this. Like, what would your like if if you could have any sort of daily driver, like what would your daily driver be after a $750 million windfall?

Pamela: 5:06

Probably my dream car. Nissan GTR R34.

Josh: 5:11

Mm-hmm. Yep. Yeah, that that would be a quality daily driver.

Pamela: 5:15

Yeah.

Josh: 5:16

Yeah, I think so. I'm such a utilitarian that that some part of me would still want a truck as a daily driver, but but I would it'd be just the most bald.

Pamela: 5:25

We would have a barn of cars. Like let me just like that would be my daily, but like I would have probably an Aston Martin.

Josh: 5:35

Yes, I was about to say an Aston.

Pamela: 5:36

Like I love some sort of like Jeep Hummer tank situation.

Josh: 5:42

Um needs to be bulletproof.

Pamela: 5:45

Yeah, like I would, yeah. I would have I would have quite the collection.

Josh: 5:49

Yeah, I'd have a Pope Mobile for no reason at all.

Pamela: 5:52

Like just an old hearst.

Josh: 5:56

I mean, you could have a lot of fun with the inside of one of those.

Pamela: 6:00

A limo.

Josh: 6:01

Uh-huh.

Pamela: 6:01

A pink Hummer limo for the kids.

Josh: 6:04

Right. This is just this is exclusively, exclusively for the carpool line.

Pamela: 6:08

Yeah.

Josh: 6:09

Yeah.

Pamela: 6:10

Like a pink mega stretch Hummer limo that holds like 25, but literally only takes two kids to school every day.

Josh: 6:19

Like, yeah. That'd be a great bit. Yeah. Yeah. I'd get my pilot's license. Oh, for sure. I'd get my pilot's license and and probably buy some kind of of plane that I could bop around in.

Pamela: 6:31

And with like, okay, and when we're talking that kind of money, you know, people are always like, oh, I'd still work and blah, blah, blah. Like, I used to say that, and now I'm like, I don't know. I think I would travel.

Josh: 6:42

Yeah. Oh, I'd travel constantly.

Pamela: 6:43

Travel, I would do all kinds of things. I wanted, I've wanted to do that. I can't do, you know, this is this sounds weird, but like volunteering is really important to me. So like I would definitely want to be like, I would probably do volunteer work before I would go back to work. Um and again, all depends on how much money we're talking. But uh I I have a feeling I would eventually do some sort of work because after a while, I feel like there's only so much traveling and and experiences that you can have. And I'm talking like over the decades.

Josh: 7:17

Right.

Pamela: 7:17

You know, like I could see doing like two decades of that and then kind of being like, hmm. Because I just I think people think they when they win the lottery, they're just gonna keep living like they always do. And I'm like, I don't think you would. Like, I think you would probably move and you know, move away to maybe somewhere where you don't know a lot of people or something, or witness protection, I don't know. Um but I think that you would want to your I mean your accessibility has increased to so many things that you've probably never even considered before. And so I think you would start diving into a lot of those things, and then yeah, traveling for sure. And then I just I don't know. I'm sure at some point you would you could get bored.

Josh: 8:09

Yeah.

Pamela: 8:10

But I think I would volunteer before I would go back to like a paying job.

Josh: 8:14

And even then, I'd probably still do like consulting or that's actually what I was thinking, is more like the the consulting and investing side of things. I think I would turn that into my work. I would turn um, you know, investment management into like my actual job and and lean hard into the most entrepreneurial sides of myself.

Pamela: 8:36

And like I could see myself doing a lot of startup seating.

Josh: 8:39

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's exactly where my head is. Startup seating, and then I don't know, I that kind of money does allow you to be a disruptor, like in an industry in a way that I think could be really good. And and there's a side of me it's like, you know, what what does it look like to have a nonprofit um set of daycare centers or a nonprofit set of healthcare clinics or something where like I'm not trying to make money off of it, it's something that maybe I can get other ultra-wealthy people to also invest in that is an investment in the community that it's in. Yeah. Like I thought a lot about that kind of thing.

Pamela: 9:14

Well, and kind of going into that article. So we we were looking at a couple of articles before we started recording. Um, that one organization or the Arizona that is paying off people's medical debt. Yeah, it's uh I would do some stuff like that. I would, you know, help people pay off student loans, um just other things that like I don't know, that we've personally struggled with or that everyday people are struggling with.

Josh: 9:43

Right. Uh I'm I'm completely with you there. Like that I I think a lot about like to to win something like the Powerball, and and I realize that we're we're lingering on this topic for a second, but it's also kind of fun to dream about.

Pamela: 9:58

Yeah.

Josh: 9:59

It to win something like that. My honest mentality would be this isn't really my money.

Pamela: 10:06

Yeah. I think like and I think that would actually help keep you grounded to like your values is is kind of thinking of it as more of other people's money, which is why I would be thinking about all of that, like donations and things like that, before what would I do with it. Yeah. I think I, when I think about winning the Powerball, I don't really think I I consider what I would want to do with it versus like how I would want to help people with it.

Josh: 10:36

And that that's that's where I'm at. Like I've I've got plenty of friends who have you know small businesses and things like that, and being able to inject some stability into those businesses and organizations. I mean, we just we just sat down with Justin and Patrick and talked about LGBTQ outdoors and stuff. And and I mean, if I win the Powerball, they don't have to worry about money again, you know, like we'll figure that out. And so there's things like that that I'd be really excited to be an investor in and really help support. But at the end of the day, I'm looking to support my people, you know. Yep. We were kind of combing through some articles before we started recording because we wanted to do an episode that was just giving some some good energy coming into 2026 and establishing some positive vibes. And so we were exploring some different news articles and stuff. And one of them that we did talk about was so the state of Arizona canceled medical debt for almost half a million residents. And so it was uh more than 200 million dollars in medical debt has been wiped out for Arizonans. Uh the recipients and the recipients are going to know who to thank, Governor Katie Hobbs. That's how this article opens. Um so the new figure was announced Monday by Allison Sasso. She's the president and CEO of Undue Medical Debt, a company that agreed earlier this year to use some $10 million in state American rescue plan COVID relief dollars. Okay, so so basically the states using what's left of their COVID release relief dollars to buy up medical debt from hospitals and doctors for pennies on the dollar, which this actually happens all the time. There's there's a fascinating John Oliver episode about medical debt. Have you seen that one? No. Okay, I'm a huge John Oliver fan. Um he started a nonprofit called Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption.

Pamela: 12:24

Okay.

Josh: 12:25

And he, I'm pretty sure that's the nonprofit that he leveraged to buy up a bunch of medical debt and wipe it out. Nice. So he bought it for pennies on the dollar, which is how medical debt tends to move. It's held by a certain company, and then another company comes along and buys it at a really cheap price, but keeps coming after the end consumer trying to get that full rate back. That's their whole business model. And so basically, what it looks like is the state of Arizona authorized the use of $10 million in COVID relief funds that were still sitting around to erase. Oh, I'm sorry, all totaled, according to the governor's office, this program has erased six hundred and forty-two million dollars owed by more than four hundred and eighty-five thousand Arizonans.

Pamela: 13:13

Wow.

Josh: 13:14

That's life-changing. Like life-changing.

Pamela: 13:19

Half a million people.

Josh: 13:21

Half a million people, yeah. It was it was just shy of half a million people, it was over six hundred million dollars in medical debt.

Pamela: 13:26

That's and imagine the boost for the economy.

Josh: 13:30

Yeah, because if people aren't paying all this money to these creditors, then what are they doing? They're they're dumping it back into their local and state level economies. I mean, look, I'm sure there are people who are listening who know a lot more about this than me. There's there's got to be, you know, some legal ramifications and all that. And I'm not saying that people shouldn't pay the money that they owe to entities and organizations. And at the same time, our medical system is so very broken.

Pamela: 13:56

Exactly. I honestly, I would be, I want to know who has a problem with this. Like, I understand like still being like middle class, upper middle class, and and struggling with medical debt, but again, I I I also don't understand this mentality of if I'm suffering, I think everyone else should too. Right. Like, I I think that if someone else who is not as well off as I am is getting their medical debt wiped out, that means that they can survive. Like they they can pay their bills, they can take care of their families, like they're not burdened. They're you know, because sometimes these companies can garnish your wages. Oh, yeah, you know, and come after that kind of stuff. I don't know it necessarily if that works with medical debt, but I know it does with like credit card debt and things like that. I mean, yeah, uh I've I just put a Substack piece out.

Josh: 14:53

Oh, right, yeah, I read it.

Pamela: 14:55

Yeah, I mean at one point I was at I was sit $62,000 in medical debt because of prior to the ACA they could uh deny for pre-existing condition whether they could prove it or not.

Josh: 15:09

Yeah, yeah, which is banana.

Pamela: 15:12

Yeah, so I literally had to prove that I didn't have a pre-existing condition. Like the the bear of responsibility became mine, even though they had no, they didn't have to prove or provide anything saying I had a pre-existing condition. They denied my claims, and yeah, I mean, I I would probably still be in that debt today.

Josh: 15:32

I had an appendectomy 10 years ago. Um, and I I was a part of like a non-profit faith-based health system that uh was supposed to cover a bunch of my medical expenses, and they just didn't. And so um I so Krista at the time was still working in the medical field, and I came away from this emergency appendectomy with a bill from the hospital, a bill from the anesthesiologist, and a bill from the surgeon. The anesthesia anesthesiologist and the surgeon were contractors for the hospital, so I had to negotiate different terms with all three entities. Yep. And Krista helped with that, thankfully, and she knows her way around that that system better than I do. And yeah, it took us like every bit of three years to to pay that off. And I thought I was paying for some sort of healthcare coverage that just didn't assist at all. And so, you know, now And they get away with it, like and that was the thing.

Pamela: 16:42

I worked for the insurance company that covered me.

Josh: 16:47

Oh my god.

Pamela: 16:48

So I had employee benefits through my health insurance company, and they still denied me.

Josh: 16:53

That's crazy.

Pamela: 16:55

And I had to get well, I gotta give props to my mom. My mom got the state involved to basically say this is fraud.

Josh: 17:02

Yeah.

Pamela: 17:03

Um, she's paying her premium, she's keeping up her end of the bargain. There's no pre-existing condition, they are denying, and so it turned into this whole thing, and so ended up like things worked out. Yeah, but again, not everyone has those resources, not everyone has that time and that energy and that knowledge to know what to do. So a lot of times people are just like, they just get the denial and they're like, okay, because they don't know that they have rights and they can push back. And then the fact that a lot of hospitals will hire like financial advisors to help you navigate how to pay for these things. I'm like, does no one see like this is just additional administrative waste of you've made this system so complicated and so difficult that you are also having to pay people to help people understand it. Yeah. Like this is just what? Yeah. Like, what are we doing? So, no, I love this. I love that those people don't have to worry about this anymore. Yeah, I think this would be a great thing for um uh is it Mackenzie Gates? Is that her name?

Josh: 18:07

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I forgot about her. Yeah. Uh-huh.

Pamela: 18:10

Of course, unfortunately, it's all the female billionaires who are actually philanthropic.

Josh: 18:14

Yeah.

Pamela: 18:15

Um, but they could contribute. Yeah, imagine if the actual men, Bezos and Elon, just did something like this.

Josh: 18:25

Right, right. Well, and that that's the thing.

Pamela: 18:27

It's like And it would be a drop in the bucket.

Josh: 18:29

A drop in the bucket. I mean, the tiniest. And I want to believe that if I had Bezos money, if I had Zuckerberg money, you know, if I had Powerball 700 billion. I want to believe that I would actually invest in something that would be a solution to this problem. Because man, medical debt will just drown a family. Like, I I it's insane the amount of money that you can spend.

Pamela: 18:56

And then add in student loans.

Josh: 18:58

Right.

Pamela: 18:59

Add in, you know, credit card debt because you're we don't have livable wages, we don't have universal income, like all that stuff just piles on. And and people wonder why millennials and and Gen Z are complaining and and not investing in real estate. Like, how? Right, how are we supposed to?

Josh: 19:19

Yeah.

Pamela: 19:20

And retirement, and like they've put everything, all the burden is now on the individual.

Josh: 19:26

Yeah.

Pamela: 19:27

But the you know, minimum wage is still seven and a quarter.

Josh: 19:31

Yeah, which is banana. I stumbled upon this article I thought was was interesting. Okay, so for the uninitiated, there there is a uh an author, a travel writer named Rick Steves, and he is very popular. He's had TV shows.

Pamela: 19:47

Um he's I don't know who he is. He's not that popular.

Josh: 19:51

Exactly. Yeah, you don't know him, therefore he's no one. Yep. Um, yeah. Um, well, he he is kind of a a bit of an Icon for the travel industry, especially.

Pamela: 20:03

Well, apparently where he lives, um I don't have that 700 million, so I don't understand this side of the world. Yeah, me either.

Josh: 20:12

I just know him from radio shows, honestly. Um, so he lives in a community that has a hygiene center for the homeless community there.

Pamela: 20:23

Oh, I love this idea.

Josh: 20:24

Yeah, I do too. And so basically, um, I'm I'm reading a little bit from the article here, but it's called the Linwood Hygiene Center, and it provides facilities such as showers, laundry, heated spaces, hot meals, and even a twice-monthly pop-up medical clinic for people struggling to make ends meet. But the center faced a serious problem. The the landowner was planning to sell the property that this was located on. So Rick Steves heard about this because it was like a couple of miles from his own, I'm sorry, not block miles, blocks. It was two blocks from Steve's own church. And he heard about what was going on. So this dude just bought the property. He's like, okay, I'll I'll solve this problem. Yeah. So it's a good problem to solve. It is. And he just turns around and perp purchases this. And um, so I'm again I'm reading an excerpt from the article. It says the whole story resonated deeply with Steve's. I vividly remember what it's like as a kid backpacking around the world to need a shower. He said in an event last week announcing the purchase. This is a place that gives countless people that are down and out a shower, which is such a brilliant thing to do.

Pamela: 21:37

Especially like as someone who has dealt with like depression and even just a lack of motivation. Taking a shower is as menial as that sounds, really makes a difference in motivation and how good you feel. And like, you know, especially if you're somebody who takes a shower in the morning to get up and get ready. I mean, imagine if you didn't have that.

Josh: 21:58

Yeah.

Pamela: 21:59

Imagine if you and like how it would affect your day. And you know, these people can go weeks, months, years.

Josh: 22:07

Yeah.

Pamela: 22:07

And and yeah, having access to just be clean, right, is I mean, one small step for us, but a big step for someone in that situation.

Josh: 22:20

A million percent, yeah. So I I've I've had some interactions with the unhoused population around North Texas here and there, and some of them have been kind of sketchy, and then others have been just these really um, I guess, helpful realizations for me of like, man, it there was this perfect storm of circumstances that led to this person not being able to afford a home anymore. And this person is very employable, they're very intelligent. They're I've had interactions with people that that have real skills, but they can't show up to a job interview because they don't have any place to clean up.

Pamela: 22:56

Yep.

Josh: 22:57

You know, they can't even they don't have the resources they need to show up to a potentially life-changing interview. And something like this is providing all of those services. They can wash their clothes, they can wash themselves, they can be a little bit more presentable than what they would usually have access to, which is a direct path out of their circumstances. Like I this is circle.

Pamela: 23:22

That's why you have like dress for success.

Josh: 23:24

Yes.

Pamela: 23:24

You know, you have all of these resources, and this is just another great example of that.

Josh: 23:30

So I I gotta brag on a nonprofit that I that I work with. So I I um for those of you who don't know, I I own and operate a creative media company with a a couple of other business partners, and um we have a nonprofit client that I'll give them a shout out. I think they'd appreciate this. It's a it's a nonprofit called Grace Bridge. It's based in the North Texas area. And um, they actually do a lot of different uh they have a lot of different programs, um, everything from like food pantry programs to um like they actually have these, they have a nonprofit welding school that you can go and and be and get your certifications as a welder.

Pamela: 24:10

That is a great occupation.

Josh: 24:13

Great occupation. And they have people that have graduated that program who make plenty of money more money than I make.

Pamela: 24:19

Oh, yeah. That's actually a very difficult skill to master.

Josh: 24:22

It is, it is. What little I know about it. I know it's hard.

Pamela: 24:25

Like to be a good welder, yeah.

Josh: 24:28

Yeah, and so they as part of their their offerings and their programs, they have a couple of resale shops. And I know that one thing that they'll do is if they if they hear of somebody who is in the situation like I was talking about, where like they have a potential job interview, they they need to look good for something, they'll just donate clothes to them. Like, like if they find out about it, they'll be like, cool, here's a jacket and tie, you know, here's something that that's gonna help elevate your uh your aesthetic a little bit. And I also I realize that this might sound a little funny coming from a guy. I think this is more stereotypically a female perspective, but like I'm actually a big believer in that the way you present yourself impacts the way you you you carry yourself.

Pamela: 25:14

Oh yeah, yeah. Confidence.

Josh: 25:16

Yes.

Pamela: 25:16

You can't, I'm sorry, but you cannot feel confident when you are dirty and feel unclean and unhygienic. Like, I mean, it goes back to the whole shower situation. Like, yeah, if you are dressed nice, if you're wearing, you know, you your clothes aren't all wrinkled and and all of that definitely correlates to confidence, which make can make or break a job situation or anything.

Josh: 25:46

Yeah, and even even for myself, like if I'm going into a big client meeting or something like that, I I kind of take a silly amount of time sometimes, like picking out what I'm wearing, and it it just impacts how I carry myself in those rooms. And you know, we we've our families have a big group text thread, and and I remember a handful of times walking into a meeting that was important to me and sending photos in our text thread and being like, Okay, do you guys like this shirt or this shirt? Like what about these shoes or that? You know, something about it, it just helps. It does, yeah. And so I love this. So Rick Steves bought that uh he bought that whole hygiene station, and apparently, um from what I'm reading in this article, there are some other people that he has connections to that are also continuing to invest money. So not only did he buy it, it certainly looks like he's improving it. Nice. Um yeah, here we go. Uh at the so they have kind of a launch event for it. Um, and it looks like a private donor at their launch event contributed another quarter million dollars for expansion and renovation. Uh, the funds add more showers and create a community area uh for residents. So, I mean, come on, that's just fantastic. Like, good on you, Rick Steves. Yep. Way to be a great human, like, and a really prolific travel writer who has written travel guides for just tons and tons of countries and areas, probably Santorini, Greece. I bet he has a I bet he has a travel guide.

Pamela: 27:17

I'll have to Google it.

Josh: 27:18

Yeah. Um, the other one, the the other one I stumbled on, we were kind of talking about this a little bit this morning, too.

Pamela: 27:25

So apparently, according to the BBC, um there is so it only applies to the UK.

Josh: 27:32

Right, yeah. This is exclusively for British people. Um if you're British. Right. Um, there is a study.

Pamela: 27:39

Not really. Sorry. I think I feel like we do need to clarify that, doesn't it?

Josh: 27:43

Yeah, yeah, this is global. Um so apparently there was a vaccine for shingles that uh started to be rolled out in 2013, and they were primarily rolling this vaccine out to more elderly patients. It says here it was ages 71 and up. Um well, they found in this vaccine that the people who received the vaccine and not the control were 20% less likely to develop dementia uh compared to those who did not receive it. And they did a follow-up study. The same scientists discovered that the shingles vaccine seemed to have a protective effect even among those who had already been diagnosed with dementia. And so that's a cool study. Like, what a huge breakthrough that would be. And it what's really interesting too is like I'm always kind of amused by when we are studying a medication and find a whole other use for it. So there was um in fact, GLP ones, which are extremely popular right now for weight loss. Um do you know like what that was developed from? I just found this out.

Pamela: 28:55

From?

Josh: 28:56

Yeah, it was developed from a uh a toxin found in large lizards. It's a specific kind of lizard. Yeah, I know. It's weird.

Pamela: 29:08

Oh, okay.

Josh: 29:09

I know, and that's that's how they they basically from that toxin develop the GLP1 like framework.

Pamela: 29:17

Well, I mean, all medicine comes from nature, right?

Josh: 29:19

Yeah.

Pamela: 29:20

I mean, we talk about chemicals and labs and all that, but I mean, pill penicillin is mold, like you know. Um so yeah, like that's I mean, nifty, I guess. I don't know.

Josh: 29:31

But I mean it's weird. We can say it's weird.

Pamela: 29:33

I mean, I definitely agree with getting the shingles vaccine, especially if you're elderly, because if you've never had shingles, it sucks and it can be chronic.

Josh: 29:43

Oh, I didn't know that.

Pamela: 29:44

Yeah, it can be a chronic problem, it can cause because it's nerve, you know, it's nerve related. So definitely get your shingles vaccine. I don't care what your thoughts are on vaccines, get that one and get your pneumonia vaccine when you're eligible. Um, and then yeah, uh I just I see so many things right here, like in in talking with this, and the fact that if you've never dealt with shingles and or you've never dealt with dementia patients, like if you can avoid either or both of those things, why would you not?

Josh: 30:16

Right.

Pamela: 30:17

You know, and I I don't want to get in the whole vaccine debate, but I I just don't agree with the current like administration's thoughts on them at all. Like, I I think we're going down conspiracy theory rabbit holes and and just really I mean talking about measles, right, you know, and how many cases are coming back. It's like I I saw this, I saw something on social media that it was a joke, but you know, going with the whole pro-life thing that they were saying if your child dies from measles because you refuse to get them vaccinated, you should be charged with manslaughter. I mean, and I'm kind of not mad about it. I mean, if we're gonna go after people with abortion and murder, right, like I don't disagree. Like, if you have an opportunity, uh and again, I know that some people can't have vaccines, right? But like, I just don't understand this whole anti-vaccine movement. Um, because just because some people on the internet believe some things they read on the internet, sure. And and aren't actual scientists, like doctors, yeah. Doctors who who just don't understand how this stuff works. I just I don't know.

Josh: 31:41

Well, so uh I I read something a while back that has stuck with me. It's if you don't know how anything works, then it's easy to make everything a conspiracy. Yes, and and I think about that a lot because like it and I'm not I'm I'm gonna bring us back to vaccines because I do want to I do want to talk about that, but it it reminded me of the whole like chemtrails um like conspiracy theory where we were controlling the weather by loading up chemicals into into uh commercial jets and then depositing them in the atmosphere when the jets are flying.

Pamela: 32:12

And then we found out it was just Disney doing that over Disney.

Josh: 32:15

Right, yeah, seriously.

Pamela: 32:17

Throwback to that episode.

Josh: 32:19

Yes, exactly. The coordination necessary to do something like chemtrails. Like, I'm not a pilot, but I have a lot of my family in aerospace, including some pilots. And I can tell you like, do you know how many hundreds of people touch an airplane a day? Like when when these planes are moving from one place to the next, there are hundreds of grounds crew, mechanics, and all sorts of administrative types. Like the the level of buy-in that people would have to have to make chemtrails happen is insane. It would never happen. We're just not that good at keeping secrets. Someone would talk, they would have talked ages ago, and there's hundreds of people per airplane that could talk. So, like when I think about it's easy to make everything a conspiracy if you don't know how anything works, like that's what comes to mind is like the only reason why people can believe that chemtrails are even possible is because they know nothing about aerospace.

Pamela: 33:11

I think that conspiracy theories are fun. I do too. I think they're fun to think about and like to kind of dig into, but also just realizing that like it's just a theory.

Josh: 33:22

Right, right.

Pamela: 33:22

You know, it it's it's not based in any reality or any of that. I I think that they're fun to learn about and talk about and all of that. But I my my concern is the fact that we're actually making policy and policy decisions based on conspiracy theories. Right. That is what's terrifying.

Josh: 33:43

Yeah, that's that that is very scary. However, I will say there's one conspiracy theory that I very much buy into. There's aliens, dude.

Pamela: 33:52

Like, there's is that a conspiracy theory?

Josh: 33:54

I mean, I think it probably falls in the category.

Pamela: 33:57

I mean, I'm sure there are.

Josh: 33:58

Yeah.

Pamela: 33:59

I mean, we can't be the only life forms in the entire universe. I mean, if you think about how big the galaxy is and then millions of galaxies and all of that, like we're not the only ones.

Josh: 34:12

No, no, there's just no way.

Pamela: 34:14

And and and who knows, you know, on the other end of a black hole, like who knows what's over there? Right.

Josh: 34:20

Right, yeah. Yeah.

Pamela: 34:21

I mean it's not outside the wellm the realm of possibility. Um, and I'm sure again, like, I'm not somebody who's like, trust the government. But at the same time, the government is supposed to be made up of the people. And I'm not saying that they haven't done some shady shit in the past, but I just I think we're getting a little off the rails.

Josh: 34:44

Well, that and like I I can make space for wanting to try different things and and you know, push some limits and ask new questions, and and I am not at all saying that I want to be stagnant in how we approach leadership and and medicine and government and all those things. However, vaccines specifically they have there there's just such great numbers to support their success. Like we have eradicated truly terrible diseases. Yes, like I don't really want polio, like that that I would love to never experience in my life, and I don't want anyone I know to have to experience.

Pamela: 35:29

I just wonder like where did this movement happen? Like, where did this begin? Like, when did people start questioning the validity or the efficacy of vaccines? And in to me, it just sounds like someone told a story on Facebook about I got a vaccine and had a bad reaction, and that means that all vaccines are bad, like, and then it just kind of spread out from there. And it's like, do you understand how insane that sounds?

Josh: 35:58

Right, right. Well, and there's eight billion people on the space rock, and some of us are probably gonna have some adverse reactions.

Pamela: 36:06

Paperwork that you sign saying that adverse reactions are rare, they're not common, but they do happen. And you need to, you're supposed to read the paperwork that they give you that you sign, you know, consenting to this. I mean, to me, it's such a small drop in the bucket. Yeah, you know, and then I think that just kind of spiraled out when the whole COVID vaccine came out. And I'm just like, I can't, like, I can't with some of y'all. I just can't. Like, what are we, what are we doing? But anyway, okay, okay. I don't want to, I don't want, okay. Let's let's roll pull it back in. Dementia vaccine, shingles vaccine, though. Yes, this is phenomenal. Because if you've ever had family members with dementia, with Alzheimer's, with any of that, that is not a way that they want to live. That is not a way you want to see them, you know, carry out the end of their days.

Josh: 37:02

Right.

Pamela: 37:03

And if we can do anything to prevent that, like that's one thing. So my my father-in-law passed away from Alzheimer's, and it was hard. And I didn't even have to deal with a lot of it. My husband did. Um, but I have always been hopeful that he that we will find something or come up with something that will help reverse or prevent him having to go through that. Yeah. Or our kids, or, you know, other family members, because it's it's hard. It is one of the hardest things to watch your family members deteriorate from.

Josh: 37:48

Krista's great-grandma had dementia pretty bad, and in the last few years of her life, really didn't recognize Krista at all. Um, never really knew who I was. However, it was she was still just this cute little four foot nine abuelita um that like would start rumors. And so we she would, every time we would go to see her, um, this is like early on in our marriage, too. Every time we go to see her, she would be like, Oh, Krista's pregnant. And we're like, No, she's not. But then her great-grandma would then tell other members of her family, Josh and Krista came to see me and told me that Krista was pregnant. And we got phone calls going, What?

Pamela: 38:37

Like, oh no, yeah.

Josh: 38:39

So it was it was cute and harmless, and and also we had to have some uh uncomfortable, not even uncomfortable conversations, just funny conversations, just like no, grandma is mistaken. Um, that is not what's going on right now. Um, but yeah, so she she did struggle with with some dementia for sure, and then um we I've had a couple of other grandparents struggle, and it is hard, like it's so hard. It's hard to watch somebody's mind deteriorate.

Pamela: 39:10

And well, I do remember so Josh's father passed away in 2012, like two weeks before we found out we were pregnant with Cass.

Josh: 39:20

Oh my gosh.

Pamela: 39:21

And I remember Josh his biggest fear was that his dad would forget who he was.

Josh: 39:29

Yeah.

Pamela: 39:30

And luckily, I guess, yeah, thankfully, we never got to that point. Like he he passed before, but we he ended up in a nursing home for a couple months before he passed. And Josh would go up there every day. Cause it was kind of on the way, it was close to his work, kind of on the way to the apartment that we lived in. And he would stop every day. And I think a lot of that was because he was afraid.

Josh: 39:54

Yeah.

Pamela: 39:55

Like he didn't he wanted to to be around his dad, make sure his dad was taken care of and And all of those things, but I think he also wanted to make sure his dad still knew who he was, you know, and and that's hard. I mean, imagine your your parents not recognizing you. Yeah. Like that is a devastation that I just can't imagine.

Josh: 40:17

Yeah, it's hard for me to do that.

Pamela: 40:18

And if we can avoid that.

Josh: 40:20

Right. Yeah. And shingles.

Pamela: 40:22

Win-win.

Josh: 40:23

Yeah. Have you ever had shingles? I okay. I have not.

Pamela: 40:27

I had it on my face.

Josh: 40:29

Oh no.

Pamela: 40:30

It was not great. It was painful.

Josh: 40:32

Yeah.

Pamela: 40:33

Yeah. Yeah.

Josh: 40:34

My my so I I talked um in our last last episode about how I went home to California. Not home to California. I went to California a couple of weekends ago um uh to see my grandma, among other things. But right now, unfortunately, my grandma has shingles. She uh she they discovered it. Yeah, they discovered it the day before I got there. And that poor woman, like, it was so sad. Like, she would she already struggles with mobility a lot. I mean, she's 87. Um, and so she's you know, her body's not getting her around as easily as it used to, but then add in shingles on top of it. And this poor thing, she would just be sitting at at the dining table and just kind of start to softly cry. I know, I know. It was terrible. And and and she wouldn't want to get up and move because the moving is painful.

Pamela: 41:30

Um well, it can cause permanent nerve damage, so you can end up with chronic pain. Wow. Because it's all nerve related. And so mine was on my face, and it it would, it was painful.

Josh: 41:42

Yeah.

Pamela: 41:43

Yeah.

Josh: 41:43

Um that sucks. I I've never had it that I know of. Um, I'm pretty sure I've never you would know. Yeah, yeah. It seems that way.

Pamela: 41:50

Kind of like uh, like, well, you won't know this, but like when you're in labor labor, you know. Like when you've had that first kid, you're just like, so like I don't what's the difference between Braxton Hicks and actual labor? And then when I actually go into labor, I'm like, oh, I get it now. Yeah, you know, you know.

Josh: 42:08

So I wanted to cover one more story for today. Um, just because I think it's fun to celebrate somebody's generosity. But there there was a uh a CEO of a company called Fiber Bond. Um Does it say where they're out of? Uh it's Louisiana, I think. Well, let me scroll down. Um, yep, it is Louisiana. Um, so a CEO of a company called Fiberbond, a guy named Graham Walker, he wanted to reward his 540 workers uh following the sale of his company. And so he arranged um for 15% of the sales proceeds would go to the 540 full-time employees. Each worker received, on average, a $443,000 payout that is amortized over the next five years if they stay with the company during that period. I mean, I love this as just a cultural kind of line in the sand of like this guy is good, he's getting his money. Like, this dude is the the overall sale is for $1.7 billion. So this guy is gonna do just fine. And I love Powerball. It is, yes. Yep. He but he actually built a company like a responsible adult, you know. But yeah, he uh he arranged for all these payouts, and I did the math.

Pamela: 43:34

Um do new employees count?

Josh: 43:37

Can I right where do I sign on? Um apparently the the amount actually increases based on the tenure of the employee, too. And so plenty of people are getting more than this. Nice. Um but he amortized it over the next five years, and on average that's a that's a $80,000 per year bump for those employees. And I don't care what your salary is, even if you're way up in the triple digits, an extra 80 grand a year for the next five years is pretty epic.

Pamela: 44:09

Yeah, like you know, if what if you retire though?

Josh: 44:12

Like yeah, that's a good question.

Pamela: 44:14

If you don't work there, like, but you well, I'm sure there's some sort of provision in there.

Josh: 44:20

Yeah, uh, but I just want more CEOs like what's this guy's name? Graham Walker. I want more CEOs like Graham Walker, like people who recognize like I didn't get here by myself, I didn't build this brand literally reinvesting your people, right? You know, I mean this is life-changing money for a lot of people.

Pamela: 44:40

I mean, I I don't And this is not outside the realm of most corporations to be able to do.

Josh: 44:44

Oh, absolutely.

Pamela: 44:46

Like, it is not outside the realm of possibility for you to be able to do something like this, even if you're not selling an organization and still have good profit numbers, right? Like, and still make your shareholders happy, which is anyway. Um, don't get me on that tangent. But like, why are we not investing in our people? Right. Why are we not investing in each other? Why are we not investing in our employees? Like, I I'm sorry, but like a basic benefits package is not uh something that I should be kissing your feet for.

Josh: 45:18

Right.

Pamela: 45:18

You know, like that is part of the package. Like, let's go above and beyond for people. Like, uh why is it so hard?

Josh: 45:26

Well, and you know, to as much as it's fun to joke about the Powerball and the payouts and things like that, I I would imagine that the CEO, Graham Walker, he I'm sure that he has a nice fat lump sum that he took home. And good for him. Like, I'm not I'm not against you know, guys like this.

Pamela: 45:45

But he's doing what we said we would do.

Josh: 45:47

Exactly. Exactly. And and he's he's recognizing that this fallout, this this you know, financial windfall, not fallout, this financial windfall is uh it's capable of really changing lives.

Pamela: 46:03

Yeah.

Josh: 46:03

And I just I love this. And I do too. I'd love to see more life.

Pamela: 46:07

540 people. Yeah, that's amazing.

Josh: 46:10

Yeah, and and I don't know what community that this company is in in Louisiana, but I know enough about Louisiana to know that this is probably gonna change the entire community. Oh, yeah. Like to invest this kind of money with this many hundreds of people.

Pamela: 46:24

Imagine if that was twice your salary.

Josh: 46:27

Right, exactly. That's like easy money.

Pamela: 46:29

Yeah. You become a six-figure household.

Josh: 46:33

That's yeah. Which, you know, people are probably buying houses now that could never be.

Pamela: 46:37

Oh, but you know, what about when it when it ends?

Josh: 46:40

Sure, you know, that's that's certainly part of it. Like, there's a part of me that would have been excited about that being a lump sum because that is enough to invest.

Pamela: 46:49

And and but I get the employee loyalty retention that he's trying to do, but and that's probably the angle is like we don't want 540 people to resign.

Josh: 46:59

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That makes sense, and so it does keep the workforce around, which keeps the company in business, which I'm sure was yeah, you know, a stipulation of this sale.

Pamela: 47:12

I just hope those people are being smart, investing and putting that back because you know it's gonna be different at the end of five years.

Josh: 47:21

So this reminds me of um the outdoor brand Patagonia. Um, their their CEO, which I actually think it's a family that runs it, I think it's a father and like his two kids or something. Um, but they capped their uh income as like the business owners. Nice and it's generous, like it's it's a it's a big sum of money, yeah, but they capped their income so that they could invest in their employees and they do these huge profit sharing programs and stuff like that. That's awesome. And I just uh more like the Patagonia CEO, more like why is this so hard? Yes, like you don't to spend, you know, even the the Powerball number we joke about, to spend $740 million or whatever it was, you it it's not that it's impossible to spend that kind of money, you can, but I think you'd be surprised at like how far $20 million gets you, and you still have another $750 million on top of that. Like there's there's a lot of things we can kick around and joke about and be like, oh, you know, an Aston Martin and same thing.

Pamela: 48:29

I mean, you can't take that 700 million with you when you go. Right. So I mean, what do you what are your you know ancestors, your kids gonna do with that? You know, what what are I don't know. I just I don't see a point in keeping and having that much money. Right. I mean, other than just I mean, I think it's an ego thing, right? Just being able to say, oh, I'm the you know, I have a trillion dollars or some dumb number like that. Um, or you know, I'm the top five richest person in the world. Like, who cares?

Josh: 49:03

Yeah, absolutely.

Pamela: 49:04

Like it means nothing, especially like okay, well, um, look at the the homeless population in San Francisco. Look at the, you know, I'm still seeing people panhandling, you know, people who can't find jobs, people who are struggling. Like to me, that's not a flex.

Josh: 49:22

Right, right.

Pamela: 49:23

It's not a flex. Like these things are flexes, right?

Josh: 49:26

Absolutely. That is a flex.

Pamela: 49:28

Um, yeah, I I just I think I don't know. But then again, I've also heard when you get that much money, like your values change.

Josh: 49:37

Right. I've heard that too.

Pamela: 49:38

And and capitalism, I mean, not that I'm trying to do like patriarchy and feminism and all that, but we we glorify capitalism and and it's not a good thing.

Josh: 49:53

Well, and I I love Jim Carrey, the actor.

Pamela: 50:00

And um I have mixed feelings.

Josh: 50:03

I I get that. I have seen him on some talk shows just very out like when when he's not doing a bit, he's not doing a character, he's just sort of himself. And I saw him, I think it was on the Tonight Show I don't know, five or six years ago. And he was talking about how he had basically retired from acting, and the language that he used was um, I've retired from anything that that isn't really worth my time. And he'll still do some movies, he'll still do some entertainment, but he's gonna be very selective at this phase of his life. And the follow-up question was, well, why did you like how did you come to that decision? He goes, I just looked around and realized that I have enough. He goes, I don't need more. I don't, you know, I I have everything that I could possibly want. And I loved listening to to his uh ideas around that because A, you do not see that in Hollywood.

Pamela: 51:11

Correct.

Josh: 51:11

Like you don't. But then even with just someone who is wealthy on his level to still be able to process reasonably that I have everything that I could possibly want and need. And so now I I think he's just come to this realization that that I think a lot of us come to, especially in sort of later in life, is the single most precious resource we we have is our time. And he now has the the the blessing of time where he's not having to worry about where his next dollar's coming from. He can just be who he wants. And and I don't know. I when I started a business, I one of the things that was important to me was really trying to support people, like giving people opportunities and resources and all of that. And then to this day, like you know, my one of my business partners and I, we we we kind of split how we handle our finances. Um, but one of the things that I was sort of insistent on uh holding on to was I wanted to be someone who handled some of the the payroll. Um just because I like doing it. I like being like, man, you did a great job, and here is your compensation for that great job. And yeah, so anyway, more like this guy, more like Graham. Thank you, Graham.

Pamela: 52:41

I just I think we need to get away. I think we have gotten and it actually brings me back to a Charlie Brown Christmas.

Josh: 52:52

That's adorable.

Pamela: 52:53

A little bit. Um we value capitalism and consumerism, and I think we're starting to realize the detrimental effects of that over the last 20, 30, 40 years, where we have been so inundated with ads and marketing and just people manipulating our psychology into believing that we need more, more, more. We need to buy this thing to be happy, and in order to buy that thing, we need more money, which fuels you know, capitalism. Like it's this vicious cycle of and I think we're starting to realize just like we talked about in our the last episode, like the most like a screen doesn't make it is not gonna make you happy or fulfilled. Having these things is a nice dopamine hit for however long, and then you're on to the next thing. Right. The making memories, spending time with people, you know, being able to come on this podcast and tell you the fun things that we've done and the places that we've been and the things that we've experienced. We wouldn't have those if all we did was sit in front of a screen all the time.

Josh: 54:04

Yeah.

Pamela: 54:05

Like this would be the dullest podcast if all we did was tell you about what we read about on the internet, because you're reading that garbage too. Like I just I'm hoping eventually we can get away from commercialism, consumerism, capitalism as like our American values and start getting back into like spending time together, relationships, like investing time instead of money.

Josh: 54:34

Yeah.

Pamela: 54:35

I I don't know. I mean, I don't think we'll ever get there, especially with the increase of AI, unless AI really manages to make a turn, you know, make a keep up keep or make a positive turn to where we are freed up in our time. Um, but I guess we'll find out.

Josh: 54:53

Yeah, I'm hoping there's a course correction there too. I I don't want AI in our artistic spaces. I want it in our practical spaces. You know, I don't want AI to replace graphic designers and animators. I want it to do my laundry and change my order.

Pamela: 55:06

I saw that. Yeah, there's that meme. It was like, I don't want, I don't want AI to free up my time to do laundry and dishes. I want AI to do my laundry and dishes so I have time to create.

Josh: 55:16

Absolutely.

Pamela: 55:17

And that's a hundred percent like, yeah, that's where creativity comes to life, art comes to life, like experiences, all of that.

Josh: 55:26

Yeah, yeah. Well, we hope that 2026 is a year packed full of not AI for you. Um, even though it's so ubiquitous, it's it's almost impossible to get away from it.

Pamela: 55:38

But call, call, call a friend you haven't talked to in a while, call a family member you haven't talked to in a while. Like, I just talked to my cousin who I haven't spoken to in what feels like decades. We haven't had a real conversation in a long time. We spoke for an hour and a half the day after Christmas. Nice, yeah. Like, and we just caught up and it was a blast. And I wasn't on a screen. Yeah, I was on my phone, but I wasn't on a screen. I was just having a conversation, like build rebuilding relationships, reach out to people you haven't talked to in a while, just send a text, send a Facebook message, send an Instagram message. I know I'm talking screen things, but like but it's how you initiate initiate the conversation and have it outside, like go to coffee with somebody that you I don't know, or have never met in real life, or something like just start building relationships outside of the internet and and start thinking of the internet as what it was intended to be, which is just a source of information, right? Yeah, AI is a source of information. Yeah, it does help, you know, make things easier, but it is not meant to be all-consuming, it's not meant to replace human experiences.

Josh: 56:45

Yeah, a million percent. Well, that's our challenge to y'all. Um, so you know, reach out to somebody and uh the we reach out to me, right? Yes, yeah, you can start with us. Yeah, you can start with us, that's great, you know. Um, and and we just I really couldn't encourage you enough to invest your time in your relationships. And you know, the more that I have just been on this earth and experienced uh, you know, some travel and some professional wins and things like that, the more I just keep coming back to the the fuel for everything I do is people. And and that continues to be my motivation. And I hope that maybe some of that rubs off on y'all because I think that when we're motivated by people and when we recognize that a rising tide lifts all ships, it it makes us start to perceive the people around us differently and better. And um, yeah, so let's be people that love each other well. That would be really amazing. Um, so anyway, we are thrilled to have been back. Um, and we will we'll keep you all informed on all of this. We might be doing some changes in format with this podcast moving forward. We don't want to say anything more about it right now. We're sort of in a wait and see mode. Yeah. Um, but uh yeah, there might be some changes, at least to the frequency of of how often we do this, but we'll keep you all informed. Um but until all of that kind of comes into focus, we're sure glad you're here. Um jump over to Substack, subscribe to what we've got on Substack. We've got some great premium content with Madeline over there. We've got some tequila Tuesday content over there.

Pamela: 58:20

It should be dropped by the time this episode airs.

Josh: 58:23

Yes, it should. And and then um we've got more premium content coming with Sub Two.

Pamela: 58:28

I am so excited.

Josh: 58:29

Yeah.

Pamela: 58:29

Oh, I'm so I I have been begging this man to get these outtakes and bloopers together because they are amazing.

Josh: 58:38

Yeah, I'm excited for these. And so all that's coming up. So subscribe to us on YouTube. That's extremely helpful. You can pop over to Instagram and subscribe to us there as well at premedit premeditated opinions.

Pamela: 58:49

Um follow us on YouTube.

Josh: 58:50

Yes, um, it all of that is super, super helpful. Um, but yeah, definitely join us on Substack. That's a great place to not just experience our content, but jump into some conversation with us. So, anyway, big love from us to you and yeah, happy new year again. Maybe we'll just say this all year. Happy New Year.

Pamela: 59:09

Okay, okay. It'll be like May. Right. Happy New Year. Like, okay, y'all. Well, that's it for premeditated opinions, where the thoughts were fully baked and only mildly regrettable. If you enjoyed today's episode, congrats on having truly excellent taste in podcasts and opinions. Following us on YouTube and Instagram is a quick and easy way to support us. So if you liked literally anything about today's episode, please like and subscribe.

Josh: 59:39

Also, send this to someone who needs to feel seen, dragged, or both. We'll be back next week with more unsolicited insight and emotionally responsible spiraling. And until then, please stay hydrated and behave yourself in the comments. But if you don't, at least make us laugh.