Participant #1:
Hello, cupcake, it's me. A podcast with your host, Michael Peterson. Hey, everyone. Michael here with hello, Cupcake. It's me. A podcast. This is episode 36, and today is August 4, 2022. And how are you? So it has been just a very long week or so since I have done my last recording. And I did not do the Wednesday check in on the YouTube channel this week because I've just been so freaking exhausted, just mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, whatever lee you want to put on it. I have been and I've been having these really vivid dreams lately that have just been, like, kind of the norm of what I used to have, but just really out of the ballpark. Like, I had this one dream where it was like this post apocalyptic world where it was like Resident Evil, Hunger Games, and The Matrix and a few other movies all just kind of rolled into one. And the only thing that I really remember from these dreams was like, there were these arenas that were set up where people had to go and fight if they had been caught by this other group of people. And there was this rundown, abandoned part of the city, and we had figured out how to rig power to it. And there were these inner city roaming gangs that had come into the building. And one of the speakers was like this really enlightened, peaceful woman. And she held up, like, this red azalea and offered it to the person who was like the leader of the gang or whatever. And I woke up from there. I was like, is there even such thing as a red azalea? What the hell is an azalea? I know that it's a type of flower, but to put it in a lineup of flowers or put it into a bouquet, I wouldn't know what the heck it is. Yeah, it was really strange. And I've just been having a lot of interesting dreams like that that have really kept my intention and made me want to stay in the dream. I know I've talked about my dreams in the past where I feel like I've lived entire lifetimes, and this was one of those entire lifetime type of dreams. Just really kind of interesting how everything plays out and how your left brain creates the story and basically tells it to your right side of the brain. And it's way interesting.

Participant #1:
There's been all that. And the weather here in Washington has been kind of wacky also. So maybe that has something to do with my sleeping patterns or the way that I've been feeling or what have you. But we've been having really nice overcast weather. And for a week or so prior to that, we were having temperatures upwards of 95. Deg for the Pacific Northwest is damn near unheard of, but is becoming more and more relevant as time goes by. And like, even heat waves in the UK where things are being stopped, like the planes are not being able to go by or whatever.

Participant #1:
Just really interesting weather. And people are saying, oh no, there's no such thing as climate change or whatever because it's snowed or what have you, but they don't understand that it polarizes. And when was the last time you heard of a massive heatwave happening in the UK to the point where the runways are melting and keeping people from being able to get places and bridges and roadways buckling and crumbling and stuff like that? So very strange.

Participant #1:
Tuesday night trivia was really fun this week because we celebrated a friend's 50th birthday and a lot of people showed up and we actually kicked ass, considering the number of people who showed up and were kind of drunk playing. But we kicked butt and we got first place Bronze Division. And I know in previous episodes I've talked about how we're still in the Bronze Division or whatever, but we just can't seem to break out of the Bronze Division. And we just started our new season. So we have five weeks of having to try to stay in the first place. And then our 6th week is our determining factor. But I think we're doing really well, especially since we only have at most seven people who play. I use five devices, so I take up a majority of the people that are on there. But

Participant #1:
for our little group, for us being in 1st, 2nd or third place at any given moment, that's pretty awesome. Especially since we're going head to head with other bars in our state. And then we also go up against nationwide averages as well. I think that we do really well and I'm really proud of us for being able to do so. Sunday

Participant #1:
of this last week, I went out to the lake with some friends of mine and it was just like a kind of impromptu get together. They hit me up, they were like, hey, we want you to come out to the lake with us. And I was like, you know what? That sounds great. Because it was like 87 where I live, and out at the lake was about 100. It was like 9500 somewhere in there. And so I show up in all my fabulous glory and I'm just like laughing because here I am, just as big as the stadium puff marshmallow man, but just having a really good time. And it started getting really hot to the point where I couldn't stand being out there in the direct sun because I'm literally white. Even though

Participant #1:
I have Native American in me, I don't claim it. I have Native American in me. But if I'm not in the sun for any length of time, I get as white as a potato. But I'm out there. So I open up my umbrella and I get it all set up and everyone's like, are you serious that you have a big old umbrella right now. And it was like one of those tabletop beach umbrellas for our market umbrella, I think is what they're called. And I'm like, Hell, yeah. And everyone was laughing at me. And most of those people who were laughing at me ended up like, taking shelter under set umbrella because, well, I forgot to take my sunscreen with me. Yeah, fun times. But we just hung out at the lake and usually the water is fairly cool, but when I got into the water, it was like bath water. It was that lukewarm, like, just the right temperature for giving a baby a bath type of water. And it was still more refreshing to be in the water than out. And so had a lot of fun with that. Then we all made the decision that, hey, let's go to the bar and have burgers. And it just happened to be that I had a few extra bucks on me and I was like, you know what? I think I'm going to join you guys.

Participant #1:
Normally I would have made some kind of excuse that I couldn't go or whatever, but I was like, you know what? No, I want to go have a burger and hang out with my friends. So that's what I did. And we went to the bar. Had burger. And it was just really nice to be able to just go hang out. Let my hair down. Met a couple of new people. Like really vibe with these new people and met some like minded people while I was out at the lake and got to talk to them and got a fresh perspective on things and made new friends on Facebook and in real life. So I'm really happy with how things turned out. And then Sunday I went over to my sister's house and we hung out and we went out to lunch at this really it's kind of like this little hole in the wall Asian buffet, but they have this really amazing coconut shrimp there that is just like chef's kiss. So since Covet has kind of died off and things have lacked in regulations and stuff like that, they have the full swing of the buffet back open. And so we just had a really good time and eating there. Then we went to Big Lots, which is next door, went walking around there, got a few things at Big Lots. I'm really into gardening right now and I love to garden. And I got myself a three pack. It's a three pack starter pack of herbs, and it was chives, basil and parsley. And so it was normally $6, but it was on sale and I got it for like $3 after tax or something like that. And I got myself a big bag of potting soil and I forget what else I picked up there. But then we went walking around this tool store called Harbor Freight, which is kind of like a discounted Home Depot. They don't sell like nationally recognized top name brands or whatever, but it's still decent materials for the budget worker or the person on a budget. So I love going there because they always have all kinds of just unique items and things that are on sale and just really decently priced. But we went in there and we're looking at solar kits for solar panels and batteries and all that other stuff. And like for $150 you can get 18 or 24 watt solar panel and the battery and everything else. And you only need one or two of those solar arrays to be able to power something like an RV or whatever. And most RVs are on twelve volt systems, so if you have something that's pumping out 24 volts, then half your power is going to like a refrigerator and maybe a toaster or television or computer or whatever. So you get two or three of those and you're in business. So me and my family were always looking at stuff like that and trying to figure out how we're going to put things together to go off grid or if we I really want a tiny house and so I'm always looking at stuff like what can I use for a tiny home, what can I put in there? I have a lot of stuff already that is small, ampage and tiny home compatible. Like I have a portable washer and dryer that takes like ten or 15 gallons of water to fill up and you can reuse that same wash water for all your clothes. And it actually does a better job at washing your clothes than a traditional washer and dryer. The dryer aspect doesn't have a heating element, it's just like a really high powered but I'm telling you guys, after using it and like spinning your clothes or what have you, and you just hang them up and by that next day they're completely dry. So I would do my laundry at noon, hanging up in my kitchen, and by 10:00 that next day my stuff would be dry. For the longest time, that's how I was doing things. And prior to getting that, I used to do my laundry using a 13 gallon trash can and a washboard and a mop handle. And I would put the detergent and stuff into the trash can and then I would agitate it with a mop handle, take out the mop handle, and then put a little bit of the fabric softener and a little bit of the clothes or the laundry detergent on to the scrub board, scrub it down and then put them in my sink. And then I would run the water over my clothes while they were in my sink, wring them out by hand, and then hang them up to dry, either outside or in my bathtub. More than likely it was always like outside, so that if it dripped, it just went into the ground or whatever. And that's how I did my laundry for a long time there. And even though I rent my house or what have you, it was still one of those things that, like when my washer and dryer died, I didn't want to have to call my landlord up or whatever and have him come and replace them. He would have gladly. But it was just one of those things that I wanted to be more self sufficient and I wanted to know how to do these things. And so I did a lot of research on making soda wash and stuff like that. And so because of it, I now have a washboard. And now I have my portable washer and dryer. And now I have a really nice washer and dryer combo set that holds like, frick. I think it can hold a queen size, queen size comforter and wash it and dry it easily. And it has all these different settings that you could put on it and it's a nice set. And so I swapped out the broken set that my landlord had given me and I put that set in there. And if I ever have to move or whatever, that set will stay behind as part of the house. Yeah, but everything that I have appliance wise is kind of geared for a tiny home or RV type living. My refrigerator is one of those, like, motel refrigerators. I have instant pots. I have three of those. I have three air fryers. I only use two of them right now. But what I've been doing with my air fryers lately is I've been dehydrating vegetables and stuff. I'm in this like, dehydrate food and save as much as you can, vacuum seal. It kind of a mode right now. And I go through this like once or twice a year where I'll just stock up on medical supplies, stock up on food, stock up on, like, this out or the other thing. So right now I'm stockpiling cat food and I'm stockpiling canned goods and I'm stockpiling cleaning things. And probably starting this month or next month, I'm going to start stuck piling on first aid supplies and stuff like that. Just because when I lost my house to the wildfires back in 2003, we had nothing, not even a bar, soap or toothbrush. And had it not been for FEMA and the emergency camps that were set up, we wouldn't have even had that. And so now in my car, I keep what is considered a bug out bag. But I have like a tent and I have two blankets and I have a sleeping bag. I have a mess kit and a solar powered radio and flashlights and all this stuff. And I always keep that on hand in my car. It means that I can't take my friends around with me or whatever, but I would rather have that stuff on hand and not need it than need it. And not have it on hand. I do need to go through it though and reorganize it a little bit better because if you look at my car, it just looks like a bunch of crap and it really isn't. It's all good stuff and I have a five gallon tote back there that has a bunch of stuff in it and I just need to seriously reorganize everything and fold up the two jackets that I have and all that other stuff. So anyways, I think that's going to be it for today, but if you have any questions, comments, concerns, shoot them to me. I'd love to get more interaction from you guys. You can shoot me an email. Hellocupkeekatsme@gmail.com, you can also head on over to the blog, hellocupcake, it's me.com. And check out the blog. I haven't updated it in a while but I'm going to get on that here really soon because there's some things that I want to blog about that I haven't talked about on here or the YouTube channel. And make sure you head on over to the YouTube channel that's YouTube. Comholocupcakes it's me. And please like and subscribe and if you are coming from here and you join over there. Please let me know and I have a whole community thing set up over there trying to get that up and going and every membership that every subscriber that I get really does help the channel to grow and once I get to 1000 followers. It really does open up a lot of things for me to be able to connect with you guys even better. And if you want to follow me on Instagram, it's Michael Scott Peterson, S-O-N not S-E-N. And I post a lot of pictures and stuff there but yeah, so until next time, I will talk to you all later. Bye guys. Thank you so much for tuning in. You have been listening to Hello Cupcake, it's Me, a podcast with your host Michael Peterson. Please make sure to check back often as new episodes are released by weekly. If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please feel free to send a message to Hello Cupcake, it's Me@gmail.com. And until next time, stay happy, safe, and keep doing the best you can with what you have been given you.