Reflections on a Journey: Gray Hair Dave's Return from Detroit
This podcast episode features a candid reflection by Gray Hair Dave, who recently returned from a visit to Michigan for a family funeral. Throughout the discourse, he expresses a profound sense of connection and familial obligation, acknowledging the importance of maintaining relationships despite the challenges posed by distance and personal circumstances. He recounts his experiences during the visit, including cherished interactions with his brothers, an appreciation for the support of family members, and the bittersweet nature of such gatherings. Furthermore, he emphasizes the necessity of fostering connections and being present for loved ones, a sentiment that resonates deeply in the context of life’s fleeting moments. Overall, the episode serves as a poignant reminder of the significance of family bonds and the importance of making time for those we hold dear.
The dialogue begins with Gray Hair Dave, the host of the podcast, articulating his reflections following a recent trip to Detroit, which was primarily motivated by the passing of his sister-in-law. In a tone that resonates with both sincerity and introspection, he shares the emotional complexity of attending a funeral, highlighting the somber yet unifying nature of such familial gatherings. The narrative delves into the themes of grief and the necessary confrontations with mortality that accompany the loss of loved ones, drawing attention to the significance of maintaining familial connections despite life's inevitable separations.
As Dave recounts his experiences, he recounts moments of warmth and nostalgia spent with his brothers, which serve as a poignant reminder of the strength found in familial ties amidst sorrow. He articulates the joy derived from reconnecting with family, emphasizing that these moments of togetherness hold profound value, particularly during challenging times. Dave’s reflections on the necessity of addressing one's own hesitations regarding travel and family visits convey a universal truth about the human condition: that the urgency to nurture relationships often becomes clearer only in the face of loss.
Transitioning to the realm of podcasting, Dave engages listeners with insights into his journey as a podcaster, underscoring the importance of community and feedback. He expresses gratitude towards his audience and acknowledges the challenges inherent in maintaining engagement over time. This segment seamlessly intertwines personal narrative with professional aspirations, as Dave encourages listeners to reach out to their own families, reinforcing the podcast's central theme of cherishing connections. The discourse culminates in an earnest invitation for listeners to embrace their familial relationships, urging them to create memories that will endure beyond the ephemeral nature of life.
Takeaways:
- The episode discusses the importance of reconnecting with family during difficult times, particularly after a funeral.
- Gray Hair Dave expresses gratitude towards 11 Labs IO for their support and the introduction they provided.
- He emphasizes the financial aspect of podcasting, highlighting the absence of sponsorships and the need for personal funding.
- The podcast conveys the significance of maintaining relationships with friends and family despite geographical distances.
- Dave reflects on his travel experiences, noting the challenges and the need for improved communication with loved ones.
- The episode concludes with a call to kindness, encouraging listeners to smile at others to brighten their day.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Elevenlabs.io
- Gray Hair Productions
- Boomer Podcasters
Transcript
Welcome to five minutes with Gray Hair Dave.
Speaker A:He has gray hair.
Speaker A:He has a gray beard and he wears glasses like the guy in the artwork.
Speaker A:Oh, and the guy in the artwork is better looking.
Speaker A:Now here is Gray Hair Dave.
Speaker A:Well, well, well.
Speaker A:Thank you 11 Labs IO for that nice introduction which I wrote.
Speaker A:I still love 11 Labs IO folks.
Speaker A:I tell you what, they are still fantastic.
Speaker A:They are still fantastic.
Speaker A:And I, I can't say enough good things about them.
Speaker A:There's going to be a link in the show notes to 11Labs IO, if you click on that and decide you want to use it.
Speaker A:I, I am now an affiliate of theirs.
Speaker A:So I would get a little bit of, you know, maybe a quarter or whatever of whatever you're paying and wants just a little bit to help me offset the, the costs of doing this show, which, you know, I, I pay for a lot of every.
Speaker A:I pay for everything.
Speaker A:There's no, there's no advertising here.
Speaker A:There's no sponsorship here.
Speaker A:But anyways, I, I'm diverging into other areas I didn't want to diverge into yet.
Speaker A:But yeah, thanks for being here.
Speaker A:I made it back from Detroit and the Detroit area.
Speaker A:I, I was up for my sister in law's funeral.
Speaker A:It was very nice.
Speaker A:I admit that it was a sad occasion to have to go back and see people.
Speaker A:I have to admit that I am very, very sorry that in the 19 years I've been in Florida, I've been back once, well, now twice.
Speaker A:And I have to stop.
Speaker A:That I have to stop being selfish.
Speaker A:People don't have to come and see me.
Speaker A:I can go see them too.
Speaker A:Probably easier for me than it is for them.
Speaker A:I'm single, you know, it's just me.
Speaker A:I want to go.
Speaker A:I either drive or I get an airplane and I go get out of the airplane.
Speaker A:I don't get an airplane because Gray Hair Dave don't make that kind of money, although he wishes he did.
Speaker A:That'd be really nice, wouldn't it?
Speaker A:But the, the.
Speaker A:The trip back was, Was pretty uneventful.
Speaker A:Nothing like the, the, the trip up.
Speaker A:It was funny.
Speaker A:I told my brother that I'd spend the night on Monday and, and I'm very appreciative.
Speaker A:And they, they showed me their new place and Paul and I talked all the way up from Port Huron to their house and that was a lot of fun.
Speaker A:I enjoyed that.
Speaker A:I enjoyed spending time with my brother and had forgotten how much.
Speaker A:I do enjoy spending time with my brothers.
Speaker A:Both plural.
Speaker A:They're great men.
Speaker A:They're both good at what they do.
Speaker A:And I'm proud as can be that they are my brothers and very happy that they're my brothers.
Speaker A:I cannot say that enough.
Speaker A:I can't say enough for Tim's family who, who met everybody, who came in the door during the viewing, during the services.
Speaker A:They were there.
Speaker A:They were.
Speaker A:It was hard and it's hard to lose your mother.
Speaker A:I remember losing mine.
Speaker A:They are older than I was when I lost my mom.
Speaker A:So I understand what their plight is right now and what they're going through.
Speaker A:But they're there for their dad, which is what they need to be.
Speaker A:And I said what?
Speaker A:And which I'm hoping that they will continue to be.
Speaker A:And I know they will because they're good kids.
Speaker A:And I keep calling them kids because they're young, but they're all in their, their 40s and late 30s.
Speaker A:And 40s.
Speaker A:Let's not say late 30s.
Speaker A:Let's just say 30s and 40s.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Because that makes me sound a little younger.
Speaker A:Well, after dinner with my brother, I went and I got the hotel room by, by the airport because I wanted.
Speaker A:I was going to check my car in at 6am I wanted to make sure I had time.
Speaker A:Wanted to make sure I knew where I was going.
Speaker A:Now, granted, I used to live in that area.
Speaker A:I used to work at that airport.
Speaker A:We'll go into that later.
Speaker A:But the whole area has changed a little bit.
Speaker A:A little bit.
Speaker A:Not a lot, but a little.
Speaker A:So, you know, I spent the night in another Comfort inn and another $25 fee just in case of incidentals and.
Speaker A:Oh, you'll get it back just as soon as you check out.
Speaker A:I told you about the budget deal, didn't I?
Speaker A:Wear the budget rent a car.
Speaker A:Oh, it's another 250 on your credit card.
Speaker A:We'll hold that.
Speaker A:As soon as you bring the car back the same day, we'll get that money back to you.
Speaker A:Come to find out later on their website, it says right there could take up to seven days.
Speaker A:They want their money right away, but they don't give it back right away.
Speaker A:And that's not right.
Speaker A:But to comfort in, I, I send out a, a gray hair.
Speaker A:Dave, kudos because when I got home that night, that 25 that I had given them as a, you know, to hold on to, the hold out to for, you know, incidentals was back in my account.
Speaker A:Good to you.
Speaker A:You guys did really well on that.
Speaker A:I'm very, very happy about that.
Speaker A:You don't know how much at the end of a long and for a pretty much unhappy trip, you know, they, they.
Speaker A:The ending was better.
Speaker A:I got to the airport, was breezed through security.
Speaker A:There was like two people in line ahead of me.
Speaker A:We just kept moving, moving, moving.
Speaker A:And this one was a little different.
Speaker A:This is the one where you stand in it in the X ray.
Speaker A:It's not an X ray machine.
Speaker A:In the magnetometer, you stand on these two yellow footprints on the bottom and raise your hands up over your head and it takes a picture real quick and off you go.
Speaker A:I thought it was going to take longer.
Speaker A:It did not.
Speaker A:And I got so lucky, folks.
Speaker A:My gate was about four gates down from security compared to the 9,000 miles, which it wasn't.
Speaker A:9,000 miles, folks, was about half a mile on the inbound flight.
Speaker A:And I was early, so I was able to go over to McDonald's there and grab a quick bite and go take it back.
Speaker A:And it was, it was, it was great.
Speaker A:I had upgraded again to comfort plus on my way home, and I'm glad I did.
Speaker A:Nice family was sitting next to me and the mother.
Speaker A:Once we took off and got, you know, got up in the air where we could move around a little bit, she moved over to another aisle seat across the aisle so that, you know, we could spread out.
Speaker A:The gentleman and wife had their two, three kids, I'm sorry, in front of me, three kids.
Speaker A:They were adults, all in their 20s, but they all were very.
Speaker A:You could tell they're all well traveled.
Speaker A:And in fact, I talked with the gentleman and they were kind of like visiting a lot of, a lot of places in the United States.
Speaker A:They had been in the Detroit area for something.
Speaker A:They were going to Orlando for some fun for a week, and then they were going to go to California.
Speaker A:So they were on vacation.
Speaker A:They were vacationing and they were just, just a joy to talk to.
Speaker A:But, you know, we left a couple minutes late and we got in a couple minutes early.
Speaker A:Who can complain?
Speaker A:I went, I. I got this great parking spot when I parked and I left.
Speaker A:And so it was easy to get to.
Speaker A:I was in my car after we landed and we deplaned, I was in my car in 15 minutes.
Speaker A:Now, you can't complain about that.
Speaker A:That's just phenomenal.
Speaker A:That's one of the things I really like about Orlando.
Speaker A:Now.
Speaker A:Was it a little more expensive to park because of where I parked?
Speaker A:A little.
Speaker A:Either way, it was going to be 60 or $90 to be gone for a week.
Speaker A:It wasn't even four days.
Speaker A:60 or 90.
Speaker A:You want convenience.
Speaker A:Sometimes 15 bucks is worth the convenience, right?
Speaker A:So it worked out just great.
Speaker A:And Then I went to the doctor when I got home because she wanted a blood draw, so.
Speaker A:Oh, and I got some blood drawn and then I went home for the rest of the day and it was great.
Speaker A:And then I wake up the next morning sick.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:Between my back and my.
Speaker A:My cold that I caught on plane.
Speaker A:On a plane, you're in a tube with all kinds of people and all kinds of kids going to Orlando and who knows what they've got.
Speaker A:But I caught a cold, so it was fine.
Speaker A:I would admit I am going to have to go back to Michigan and do some more visiting where I have time and I have the energy because there were friends who contacted me, say, hey, how long you gonna be in town?
Speaker A:Oh, I'm just here for another day and.
Speaker A:Oh, that's too bad.
Speaker A:We would love to see.
Speaker A:You would love to have seen them, too.
Speaker A:I did see my one friend Bill and his wife and they.
Speaker A:They're friends with my brother and his.
Speaker A:And his now deceased wife.
Speaker A:Was wonderful to see them.
Speaker A:We got to see my nieces and nephews and grand nieces and grand nephews.
Speaker A:It was wonderful.
Speaker A:Got to see my Aunt Connie, which I talked about.
Speaker A:It was a good time and it was a good time had by all considering the situation.
Speaker A:So that's what happened there, folks, when I got back.
Speaker A:In fact, I just noticed it today.
Speaker A:So, Doug, if you're listening, and thank you for listening, I just received your email today because I really hadn't been paying attention last week, but thank you for all you said and yes, I'll be in touch.
Speaker A:And Doug, you know who you are.
Speaker A:Every once in a while you wonder, you really, really do, if what you're saying and what you're doing is getting out there in the world when you're podcasting, and I've been podcasting for over five years and goodness, it's coming up on six here shortly.
Speaker A:But when you've been doing it this long, you wonder if people are listening.
Speaker A:You look at your numbers and you look at where they're from and you analyze it.
Speaker A:And it's not that it's confusing to me.
Speaker A:I realize this is a very, very niche podcast and my other one is not Boomer.
Speaker A:Podcasters is more detailed.
Speaker A:I'm getting back to it, folks.
Speaker A:I've taken some notes.
Speaker A:I was on an airplane for twice for two and a half hours.
Speaker A:I had time to take some notes, so I did, and I want to bring it back.
Speaker A:A couple of you have contacted me through my website and asked me to reply with things through WhatsApp.
Speaker A:I have WhatsApp on my phone, folks.
Speaker A:I do.
Speaker A:As of, as of right in this minute.
Speaker A:I would rather reply through email, if that's okay with you.
Speaker A:Send them again and send me your email.
Speaker A:I've got your email address.
Speaker A:I would be happy to apply or reply with that.
Speaker A:If you would still like that information, I'd be happy to help.
Speaker A:So when it comes to podcasting, folks, that's what I'm here for.
Speaker A:I'm here to have fun when I'm talking with you guys, but I'm also here to promote other things, like boomer podcasters, which is where I teach and I'm willing to teach and show baby boomers Gen X, Gen Y, Gen Z how to do podcasting and how to pick a niche, how to distribute it, how to edit it, how to just how to start everything from, from the beginning to getting it out there in the world.
Speaker A:Now, when it comes to the marketing end of things, I might team up with somebody else who's doing that very, very well.
Speaker A:But for now, we're just going to get you to a certain point and then we're going to help you market, but we'll get there.
Speaker A:So there's that.
Speaker A:There's also Gray Hair Productions, which is my editing portion of the, of the deal where I'll edit your, your podcast or your video podcast for you.
Speaker A:I'll make clips, I'll do whatever you want.
Speaker A:Take out the ums and the oz and the, I'll EQ it.
Speaker A:You know, I'll compress it where it needs to be compressed.
Speaker A:I'll adjust volumes.
Speaker A:I'll, I'll take care of the breaths, all those fun things for you.
Speaker A:There's some, and there's some costs there, so it's not for free.
Speaker A:This is a business and I tend to be reasonable, but I'm also not here to lose money.
Speaker A:So just beware if you're looking for some editing help, I'm here.
Speaker A:And I'm probably going to be cheaper than, than a lot of people.
Speaker A:But, you know, as time goes on, I'm going to start raising rates.
Speaker A:So that's something to think about.
Speaker A:Get in while the money's, that's, that's less expensive because the rates are going to go up beginning of the year.
Speaker A:I've already determined that.
Speaker A:What else is going on?
Speaker A:That's about it.
Speaker A:It's nice to be back to work.
Speaker A:I, I'm enjoying that again.
Speaker A:Got a lot of ums today.
Speaker A:I don't know where I'm coming from with all this.
Speaker A:But here's what we're gonna do next.
Speaker A:We're gonna pretty much say what we normally say here.
Speaker A:We're gonna say, folks, if you know somebody who doesn't know what a podcast is, do me a favor, show them.
Speaker A:Show them how to find podcasts.
Speaker A:Pull their phone out in front of them or their computer, their laptop, their iPad, their, their Samsung pay I, you know, toilet tablet or Amazon Fire, whatever they got to do to find where the podcasts are.
Speaker A:Show them what genres are available because you know, and use me as an example.
Speaker A:Use 5 minutes of gray Hair Dave as an example here.
Speaker A:Did you find just how you find five Minutes of Gray Hair day Dave?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Or show them how the murder mysteries are out there or the, there's ones about sewing, there's ones about golf, baseball, football, if they're into that.
Speaker A:You, there's narratives, there's, you know, remember, this is not ibooks, this is not books.
Speaker A:I'm not promoting that other thing that Amazon does with books.
Speaker A:This is podcasts, where people talk.
Speaker A:And if they're interested in creating one of their own, I would be happy as can be to help them through Boomer Podcasters.
Speaker A:So we're going to run through the websites really, really quick here.
Speaker A:This one here is five Minutes with Gray Hair Dave dot com.
Speaker A:That's the number.
Speaker A:Five Minutes with Gray Hair dave dot com Next you have boomerpodcasters dot com that's B O O M E R s. No, B O O M E R p O D C A S-T-E R S.com and then you have Gray Hair Productions dot com.
Speaker A:Now, Gray Hair Productions has a Contact Me page, but they don't have the little microphone to leave a voicemail.
Speaker A:Boomer Podcasters and five Minutes of Gray Hair Dave does have a little microphone.
Speaker A:The bottom right hand corner.
Speaker A:You click on that.
Speaker A:Leave me your email and you can leave me a voicemail.
Speaker A:You have to give me an email.
Speaker A:Either way, folks, I'm sorry, you're just going to have to give it to me.
Speaker A:I want it.
Speaker A:It's mine.
Speaker A:I also want you to know I will not sell your email address.
Speaker A:I'm very selfish.
Speaker A:I will send you promotions once in a while on me, on my stuff, because I do have merchandise, if that's something you might be interested in.
Speaker A:I still got a bunch of keychains and stickers and stuff like that.
Speaker A:But I've also got T shirts which are really pretty nice.
Speaker A:I've talked about those before.
Speaker A:So there's those things I've got those out of the way.
Speaker A:Don't forget 11 Labs IO.
Speaker A:It's a AI voice generating program where you type in what you want it to say.
Speaker A:And it gives you options for all these voices.
Speaker A:And it's something I use on every beginning now of five minutes of Gray Hair Dave.
Speaker A:So I'm quite long on this one and I apologize.
Speaker A:But as the time went on, I had more I wanted to get out.
Speaker A:Folks, you all have a great day.
Speaker A:Do me a favor and yourself a favor.
Speaker A:Next time you're out and about today or tomorrow, smile at somebody you don't know.
Speaker A:Or smile at somebody you do know.
Speaker A:You're gonna make their day.
Speaker A:You don't know what's going on in their life.
Speaker A:You could really cheer them up.
Speaker A:So on behalf of Gray Hair Dave, you all have a great week, a great weekend.
Speaker A:I'll be back next week to talk to you.
Speaker A:You all have a great one now.
Speaker A:Bye.
