Objective Jerk
I use my MIC and my platform as a form of "therapy" or "medicine" for myself.
Objective Jerk
LOYALTY TO FLAWS: Political Delusions, and a Review of a newly purchased Indian Bajaj
Ever wondered why people cling to political parties despite glaring leadership flaws? Our latest episode kicks off with a candid reflection on podcast introductions and their role in shaping our discussions. We journey through the political landscape, questioning unwavering party loyalty and sharing our personal approach to voting based on candidates' achievements rather than their political affiliations. As the conversation shifts gears, we recount an unexpected detour into the world of motorcycles, starting with a practical Yamaha moped and steering towards Royal Enfields for their classic allure and affordability, all while highlighting the rich history these bikes share with India.
From the thrill of motorcycles to the frustrations of shopping, our adventure continues in the hardware store aisles of the Philippines. We share the trials and triumphs of hunting down a fan to match a curved windshield, spotlighting the creativity required when faced with less-than-stellar customer service. Our story reveals the stark contrasts in service quality, influenced by cultural nuances and the absence of sales commissions. Despite initial setbacks, we find not just the perfect fan but also unexpected insights into consumer experiences across cultures. Tune in for a blend of personal stories and musings on navigating life’s quirks, from politics to motorcycles to shopping challenges.
What's going on? Everybody it is me the jerk, I don't know. I used to have a little saying or a little like opening, whatever, and then I changed the name of the podcast and anyway, I don't know, I just think it's kind of corny anyway. So, whatever, let me know. Do you miss it? Do you care? I don't think it's a big deal, but anyway, what's going on? How's everybody doing? Hope everybody's doing well, politics-wise, things are looking pretty good. Things are looking up.
Speaker 1:The administration, the current administration, is just dropping every ball that's thrown at them. I mean, they look like complete idiots. I don't. I don't know how people can still, you know blue, no matter who kind of thing, or, and it's the same thing, on the on the right side too, you know. But it's like there's kind of come to a point where you're like gosh, this person is just yeah, this ain't gonna work. So it's like, again, I can understand, you don't like trump, but to sit there and like, pretend like harris and what's his face is good and and, and, and and they're going to, you're going to vote for them. You know what I mean. It's like what? Like I can understand, like I hate Trump, I can't vote Republican, but I'm not going to vote for Harris because she's a complete idiot. So, like I get it, I guess, but I don't know. It's just.
Speaker 1:But it goes both ways, you know, and there are people just, no matter what is done, said or whatever, they're going to vote. The way they vote. That's crazy. Like I just voted, well, not just. It's been like two weeks now and you know I it was. So I'm registered with Utah, cause that's where I lived last and so that's where I get my emails to vote for and and my, you know, mail-in ballot stuff and or electronic ballot and um, so I try and research the individuals that I'm voting about. You know what I mean. So like they're you know, if I don't, obviously you know I voted for Trump and stuff. But then there was like other people, judges and certain people. You know I didn't care what Republican, you know, I was looking to see what they've actually done and what they say and all that kind of stuff. So that's why I don't really consider myself like a conservative, you know. It just kind of depends on the platform and what their history and their accomplishments and what their all that kind of stuff. I think that's what matters. But anyway, I'm not here to talk about politics, even though I do every single time. I was actually going to share just kind of an interesting story.
Speaker 1:Um, I've been wanting a to get a motorcycle for a while now. Um, I had a moped briefly, for about a year or something like that. It was a new moped, it was a Yamaha N-Max, nice little moped. It's great to get around town here, because it is such a hassle sometimes to go into town and try and drive through the streets and find parking in a vehicle. You know what I mean. Like it's just insane. So it's so much easier to have a moped to just do some errands in town and everything. Um, but I was kind of. So we had the moped but it wasn't working Like.
Speaker 1:I was like, eh, I want to get something a little. You know, it was only like 150 CC, um, so we, we sold it and I was like, you know, I kind of want to get a motorcycle to go on some rides and stuff like that, you know, um, but then it's like if I go on a, like I wouldn't use the motorcycle for going into town. You know what I mean. It was and I was looking at. So obviously, first thing you're looking at is Harley, right and, but then Harley's all retarded now. So I was looking at Indian, but they're so expensive and it's just like gosh, man, I don't want to. You know, even even if I had the money sitting like laying right here, I don't know if I want to pay that much for a motorcycle. You know, it's just gosh, I don't know. I know it's a little bit of an investment, it can be or whatever, but anyway.
Speaker 1:So I was looking at Royal Enfields, which are one of the oldest, if not the oldest motorcycle company, I think, in the world. They originally were made in England and they were used during, I want to say, world War. I is when they started, but I could be wrong, it might be World War II, but they would use them for messengers and stuff like that. It's probably World War II, I'm trying to think, probably World War II Anyway, and so they were there for a long time. But then they got bought out by a company, I guess, in India.
Speaker 1:So they're made, they're produced and made in India, but they're well made. They're like. You know, they're like really. I mean, I can't, you know, I'm just, I'm speaking from research, you know, and reviews that I've looked at it. I didn't.
Speaker 1:I don't own one, so but they're well made, they're basic and they're cheap, though because they're made in India, india so they're way cheaper than any other motorcycles but they have like a classic look. They have other ones that are a little more, you know, contemporary kind of look and but you know that it was kind of I like the old school kind of look, and so I was like, yeah, man, I want, I think that's what I'm gonna do. So I've been kind of eyeing one of those, you know, but like I, like I said, you know, so now here, I mean you got to wear helmet, which is fine, but now they're making people wear reflective, uh tire, which is fine. You know, it's like in the military they had you do the same thing, so you got to wear like a vest and stuff like that. Um, but I don't know, I was like I don't really want to get on, you know. So if I get this motorcycle, then it's like, like I'm thinking I'd, you know, get some boots and some pants and go on like a little ride, go on, like, you know, an hour or two ride out in the country to kind of just collect my thoughts and you know, just just ride, you know, and then, but it's like, but I wouldn't be, I wouldn't take it to go to the store real quick, you know what I mean, because I'm not going to get on there with my flip-flops and my you know what I mean. I don't know like it, I don't know. It just didn't, it wasn't kind of, it wasn't jiving, you know. So I was kind of I've just been debating and whatever so, but anyway, so I did get something. You know, I asked my wife for an Indian and this is what I got. So I'm going to for those that are on the podcast are losing out on, so I'm adding a video that I took of of what I got. So what? What I ended up getting was the.
Speaker 1:I asked my wife for an Indian motorcycle and I get a Bajaj, which is the that are made in India. If you guys know what I'm talking about, it's in the. I guess it's in the last Indiana Jones movie, which I didn't see, but I remember seeing like a clip, and it's like there's a little, you know, chase scene and they're jumping between and they're riding, riding through India, and it's in one of the, the little talk talks. So that's that's what I got now. Um, you know, my wife, like I said I was, I was, I asked for an Indian motorcycle and I get the, the.
Speaker 1:What do you call them? So they call them like talk talks or something. They're the company's baj Bajaj with like a silent J on the end, but they're also called um, oh, what is it? I can't think of what it is, but anyway. So you know it's, it's, it's basically a three wheeled motorcycle like a tricycle, but it's got a roof. It's like part car, golf cart motorcycle. It's kind of. It's a crazy contraption, um, but they're also really well-made and they're very popular all over the world Not all over, I mean, cause I don't think they have them in America, but um, but it's cool though I mean actually.
Speaker 1:So you know my wife now granted I'm being a little dramatic here so she told me that you know that's what she was getting. So it's not like, you know, I had my helmet on and my leather jacket and I'm waiting there for my wife to show up, you know, with my new motorcycle or something, and then all of a sudden she shows up in this. You know so, and part of the reason we got it was because she has a franchise. So they have I've talked about it before they have a lot of, uh, tricycle drivers which are basically taxi. So just picture, taxi driver, you know, picture new york with all the taxis and you have, um, you know, the other um, what are they called? I don don't know the other services online I can't remember what they're called now because I've been here so long, but they used to have the mustache on it and Uber. There we go, there's Uber and some other ones. But so just picture all of those, but as little tricycle drivers.
Speaker 1:So it's a little motorcycle with a side cart. So that's, like you know, all over the place. Some people it's extra money, for some people it's their only money, for some people it's their only vehicle, Um, so you'll see some of those loaded up like crazy and I've talked about it before but, um, so they're all over right, and to have one of those and to use it to you know, as a service to give people rides and make money, you have to have a franchise, what they call. It's like a license, basically, um, so my wife has one, or at least it was, it was her mother's who passed away, so she, she has it and she needed to get a vehicle to attach it to, basically right. So we had to get this Bajaj Tok Tok I call it a Tic Tac so we could, you know, combine it with the franchise Now I'm not going to.
Speaker 1:So she's got all the paperwork and I've got the little placard on the back, you know, and but I'm not gonna give anybody any rise. I mean, maybe, I don't know, if I do I wouldn't charge them. You know, like I'm, you know you can't just like go in and start taking people like there's, there's a system and there's rules, you know. So it's like I, I could piss certain tricycle drivers off or something. So it's not like I'm just gonna show up to where they go and hang out like what's up, man, yeah, I'm gonna do this too. Um, but like, if you know, if I'm going through a neighborhood and somebody's like flagging us down, thinking that we're, you know, and I might stop and be like where you going, they're like, oh, I'm gonna go to the market, no cool, hop in, take them in the market and then just not charge them. But I don't know, that might piss people off too, because I'd be like man, that's fair that we could have had, or I don't know. But the goal is not for me to start driving a tricycle or, you know, taxi thing around town, it's just, but anyway. So that's kind of the reason behind it. And so now though we have this, uh, pajaj, talk, talk, whatever you want to call it. It's pretty cool For those that are watching the video you saw.
Speaker 1:I did a quick little review of it, so those are on the podcast. I'll kind of talk about it a little bit. But it's, you know, it's like I said, it's part golf cart, part motorcycle, part small car, I don't know. So it's basically it's an enclosed motorcycle. It's got headlights, windshield, windshield, wiper, it's a roof, got a back seat. Um, it's.
Speaker 1:It's a small motor, but it drives like on your foot. You have a brake on your right foot, you got your throttle on your right hand and then on the left you have the clutch and that's how you shift it. So you pull the clutch and you turn, you know the the grip to shift it into the different gears, and it looks like, when you look at it, it looks like there's three emergency brakes. So one is an emergency brake. The one in the middle is actually when you want to go in reverse. So you pull that up and it puts it in reverse and then you just put it in first gear and it'll go backwards and then you got to release it so you can go forward. And then the one on the left is if your battery is dead or whatever and you need to start it. So it's like a pull start. You just pull the lever and it, you know, turns it on. So it's got a little speedometer, it tells you when it's in neutral. It's got a gas gauge, blinkers. That's it.
Speaker 1:You know it's pretty basic, but it's a nice little machine. I actually kind of enjoy riding it and I actually I'm kind of glad that we got it instead of another Moped, because I was looking at getting another Yamaha like uh, x-maxx, which is a bigger one, more power, um. So I was kind of debating between that and the and the Royal Enfield, but but this is kind of nice, it's like it. Just I don't have to wear a helmet, I don't have to do all, I can just jump in, go whatever. It's got room for stuff. Got room for stuff. I've got room for my family. We can all fit in it.
Speaker 1:It's a little tight if we're all in it, but like I just dropped the kids off to school with it today and I'm still trying to get the hang of it, the shifting and everything, but it's kind of cool and it keeps you dry. If it's raining I'm not going to get wet, but it is still kind of hot. So, like I went and bought like a little car um 12 volt, you know, you plug in the cigarette lighter fan, you know, so I can have some air. Because that's the only thing, that's the only thing I don't like about it is it should have like remember, like the old trucks that had the little wing windows that you could open the window and turn it and like the wind would come in. It's like you know free ac. Or like you know the old willy's jeeps, like at the windshield you could open a vent and some air would come in as you're driving. It doesn't have anything like that. So it's just like if you're in the back seat you get the airflow. So you're kind of it's not too bad.
Speaker 1:But as the driver, because it got the windshield around it, like it's kind of hot and so I was like I need to get a fan somewhere in here, just to kind of, and this kind of goes off story a little bit. But so I went to a little hardware store that they have at the mall here and I was looking for like a fan that had a suction cup that could, just because the windshield is like a curved windshield, you know, so I could just stick it in the windshield and I got a fan for me. So that's what I was kind of looking for. So I go there and I asked the, the person, and and he's like, oh no, here's some fans here and like he. You know, that's the thing that and I I really don't want to dig on filipino, um, and it's not all of them, but it just seems like.
Speaker 1:Like when I go to and it's not all of them, but it just seems like when I go to hardware stores and certain stores, the people that work there, what's funny is to get a certain job, like a job that you can get in the States in high school still, maybe, not necessarily, maybe a little after, but you only need a high school diploma to get it. Here you've got to have an associate's degree to go work at mcdonald's or to do other stuff, but the thing is is like they don't really know anything about, like whatever. So it's like we went to the the auto parts aisle and this is this has happened more than once in different occasions, but so for this time went to the auto parts aisle and I was asking like, hey, do you have a fan? And they had like this little one and it was like a USB plug-in and I didn't want that because I knew I had the little cigarette lighter thing that was in the Pajaj, the TikTok, whatever, tiktok, talk, talk, whatever. And so I needed that plug.
Speaker 1:And then I was like I kind of want, there was nowhere really to mount. I didn't want to do like a double stick sticker because I was like it's not gonna, there's nowhere to really do it, you know. So I was thinking, okay, suction cup, I can put it on the windshield. There we go. And I was like I don't know if it'll stay there. It gets hot sometimes, they, you know. But that's what I was looking for. And the guy's like this is all I got, and it was just like a little double fan that plugged in. So I was like, okay, so I took that and I was like I'll figure it out right. And so I did. I mounted it to a little overhead compartment. That's above there. It's just like a little, it's like a soft skin, but it's rigid and you open it up. There's like a little light there so you can turn on a light at night, like a little dash light, and there's a little compartment, kind of like a glove compartment sort of thing. You can stick some stuff up there. So I put a brace and I mounted the fan to that and ran the cord and it actually works out really great. The fan right there. I can blow it on right in my face. So it's nice. I'm thinking about getting like a small box fan and wiring it up and sticking it in the back back of it so it can kind of blow air there too. Anyway, um, but yeah, so I was.
Speaker 1:We went back yesterday same place because we had to get some other stuff and I was like you know, I'm gonna see what other kind of fans they got, because I'm thinking about this like tiny box fan to put in the back. And so we go to the same aisle, same place. I'm just kind of looking and then I look up, or maybe did this guy. He's like, hey, there's something. And I was like I look up or maybe did this guy. He's like, hey, there's something. And I was like I look up and I see some other fans and they got dust on them. So basically these fans were there the last time I was here, but I just didn't. I didn't see them and then I pull one down. It's exactly the thing I was looking for last time is a suction cup, oscillating fan that plugs in. I was like what the crap? This is what I was looking for last time up. Oscillating fan that plugs in. I was like what the crap? This is what I was looking for last time.
Speaker 1:And it's just like they just I don't know the customer service just kind of like the no, the driving sucks. People can't drive here for shit. But the customer service here is either horrible or awesome. There is no mediocre. You know they will either go out of their way and know exactly what you need and just really kind of, you know, make your shopping experience great, or they're just clueless and they're like I'm just at work, they don't get. You know whatchamacallit. You know, when you're a salesperson commission, they don't get any commission or anything like that. So I don't know, it's just again, it's a culture thing that I'm still trying to get used to, but it's just. But I mean, you know, looking, looking at though, I think I'm kind of happier with the fan that I got, so it's not a huge deal like I'm actually kind of glad I didn't see that, because I probably would have, because I'm thinking that suction cup one would have fall off after a while and this now this one, I know, is not going anywhere and it actually it kind of worked out really good. But it's just, I'm just trying to emphasize the.
Speaker 1:Sometimes, like when I go to, you know, like if I go to their, their hardware store, their Lowe's, which is called Wilcon, and they're and they follow you around, man, like you go walking through, and they're just like hi, sir, and they just kind of follow you around, man, like you go walking through, and they're just like hi, sir, and they just kind of follow you around. Not that they're thinking I'm going to like, that's just how their job is, you know. And then I'll sit there and I'll be like, I'll be looking at I don't know, like drill bits, you know, and they got a couple of different brands and I'm just like, so which one's like the best one, you think and or which one does. I'll ask them a question and they'll just kind of grab what I got and they'll read. And I'm like dude, I can do that, I know how to fucking read all I can read what you know. Like, I just want you know in the States, and I know it's like I'm not in the States anymore. I get it, but it's just you. You have oh, sorry about that that hit the microphone. All right, maybe push it forward a little bit, um, but I gotta be a little closer. I think I don't know.
Speaker 1:I'm trying to like have a nice, but you know, generally people kind of know a little bit about what their work in the area you know, electronics, electrical, plumbing, whatever you know. So it's just I kind of wish that they would. I don't know how they, how they do it. I don't know if, like they, they assign someone like a certain area and it's like, hey, you need to learn everything about it, or if they just kind of move around and they just kind of know where stuff is. Basically they don't really know.
Speaker 1:You know, like you think they would know, like okay, a lot of contractors like this one, I hear this one's good, you know, because it's like usually I'll sit there and like there's like a couple different brands. I'm like which one's a good one? And I was like, is this one good? They're like, yes, sir, and I'm like, okay, well, how good, what you know? I mean, it's just like I don they just or they'll. Usually it's either that or they'll just grab the more expensive one, like this is a good one because it's expensive. But I don't know. I mean, and again, sometimes they're like, well, no, this one's pretty good, this is a good brand. You know, like I said, sometimes they know, sometimes they don't, but it's just it's I don't know, but it worked out. So I'm not.
Speaker 1:You know, I actually kind of like the fan that I got. I think it's better anyway, but that's it. That's kind of what's been going on with me. Uh, my time's about up and plus, I got the video part, so it's going to be a little bit longer on the video. So, uh, I think that's it. That's all that's been going on with me. Uh, let me know if you got questions about anything. And uh, yeah, that's it. That's all that's been going on with me. Let me know if you've got questions about anything. Yeah, that's it. Thanks for listening, thanks for hanging out, god bless. Alright, bye.
