Episode Transcript
[00:00:08] Speaker A: Hello and welcome to 404. Site not found for December 31, 2024. And this is the last episode in 2024.
[00:00:18] Speaker B: Yes, it'll be you're not found.
[00:00:20] Speaker A: That's right. Like you're not found.
[00:00:23] Speaker B: Oh yeah. It'll be a new year.
[00:00:25] Speaker A: We're going back in time.
[00:00:26] Speaker B: It'll be a new year. It will no longer be 24, so.
[00:00:30] Speaker A: It'Ll be 2025 and I'll forget for the first week and put 2024 and everything as I do every friggin year. I never changed.
So yeah, we wanted to do a little bit of a podcast and you know, wish everyone a happy merry New Year and stuff. Hopefully you have had a good one. Obviously if you are in Europe or something or Australia, you're already celebrating the New Year. We're gonna hopefully post this before New year comes around. That's my plan. I just gotta go grab the laptop and do all that stuff. But thought we would talk about our year in review and we'll make it short, but wanted to just kind of look at 2024 and. And talk about what it was like and the highs and the lows and the middles.
[00:01:18] Speaker B: Yeah, there was a much more unabridged version of this on chatting with viewers.
If anyone's interested in like the long form narrative of things.
[00:01:30] Speaker A: Yeah, the really long form.
[00:01:32] Speaker B: This will be a lot more digestible.
[00:01:36] Speaker A: Oh, that's good.
I like things that are easy to eat.
[00:01:41] Speaker B: That's correct.
[00:01:42] Speaker A: That's good.
[00:01:43] Speaker B: Oh, we had some great dinner tonight.
[00:01:45] Speaker A: We did. We got popcorn shrimp and I made homemade fries which were okay.
[00:01:52] Speaker B: We were supposed to have hush puppies, but the store was out of them.
[00:01:55] Speaker A: Thanks. Thanks, Mr. Store.
[00:01:57] Speaker B: Yeah, it was really sad.
[00:01:59] Speaker A: It was. I was not pleased. But that's okay. So, yes, we had shrimp and hush puppies. No, no hush puppies. We had invisible hush puppies.
[00:02:10] Speaker B: We had hush puppies. In spirit.
[00:02:11] Speaker A: Yeah, we had imaginary hush puppies.
[00:02:13] Speaker B: Well, Oliver was quiet. There was no program directing during dinner. So he was a hush puppy.
[00:02:18] Speaker A: That was nice. That was awesome. So yeah, 2024, I think that was the year of uncertainty and change. We started off, you know, planning on Alyssa moving to Colorado and we had looked at some houses and obviously you got a shiny new job in April.
[00:02:39] Speaker B: Yeah, there was some concern at the beginning of the year. We were kind of playing with the ideas of how's this going to look, who's going where. Ultimately thought I would end up out there. That just seemed the most practical. But there was some question about jobs and then I got a remote job. So that made things easy.
[00:02:57] Speaker A: It did. That simplified things. So we did that.
We were, you know, looking at housing. I saw a very awesome townhouse that we were going to get. And then May came around. And I think it's safe to say everything flipped on its head.
Long story short, I lost my job.
[00:03:16] Speaker B: Our world tilted on its axis.
[00:03:18] Speaker A: The world, like, flopped over it, like, spun around.
So we had to change our plans very quickly. So within a month, I moved to Oklahoma and crammed myself in Alyssa's tiny one bedroom apartment.
The balcony was comfortable. I'd like to point out it was a great place to sleep.
But we made it work and we didn't kill each other, which is awesome.
Yeah.
[00:03:45] Speaker B: Because otherwise that wouldn't have gotten us into our house.
[00:03:49] Speaker A: No.
[00:03:49] Speaker B: You spent a couple of months doing countless job applications, interviews.
[00:03:54] Speaker A: And there were a lot of interviews, too. I. I think one week I had more applications. Yeah, a lot of applications. But at one point, I had three interviews in one week. And I was very fortunate to receive two job offers on the same day. And I mean, both would have been fantastic. But I picked the one that I really think was the best option. And honestly, I think it is one of the best decisions I've ever made. I work with some truly amazing people. We do some truly amazing things, and I am so blessed to be part of the team.
[00:04:27] Speaker B: They say that applying for jobs or searching for a job is a full time job. And Liam, you are a testament to that.
[00:04:34] Speaker A: You learn a lot. And. And you. I mean, you have to go through a lot of disappointment, but you also get to go through a lot of really cool things. Like, I mean, I got to meet some really cool people. I had some really awesome experiences. I learned so much about interviewing. I learned a lot about myself. I learned a lot about others. And like, ultimately.
[00:04:54] Speaker B: Yeah. And what kind of place you want to work for.
[00:04:56] Speaker A: Yeah. And I'm so glad that this worked out.
I don't think I could have asked for much more.
[00:05:04] Speaker B: Yeah. Then came the end of August and the frenzy that was moving into the.
[00:05:08] Speaker A: House that we are at right now. 404, house not found.
But yeah, we went through a whole rig and roll with that.
We had to move pretty quickly. I started on September 9, and we wanted to be. The term was what we say functionally live. Was it functionally livable? Functionally livable. So we want to be functionally moved in.
[00:05:31] Speaker B: Or.
[00:05:31] Speaker A: There was some great term, but it involved the word functional.
[00:05:34] Speaker B: Yes. It was like, what are the items and you know, what things do we absolutely have to have here to function versus what can wait at the apartment until we can get it packed and get movers over there to empty it out? And so there was a lot of. And it went crazy decision making.
[00:05:54] Speaker A: I think it went really smooth. It was a very smooth process. We had a lot of help.
[00:05:58] Speaker B: Yeah. And we had time, like, yes, we wanted to get functional fast, but we also had time to get the rest of the stuff out. It was not like your move of 23, where you had about two weeks to get everything moved and find a place.
[00:06:15] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, I think I had from in 23, when I got the official.
Like we are looking at hiring you to. When I moved was. Let me think. I would say it was actually, it was exactly two weeks because I had gotten it on a Friday, and then two weeks from that Friday I left.
So in that two weeks, I had found an apartment. Didn't even have a chance to look at it really, but had to go with something that I thought was going to work.
[00:06:48] Speaker B: You know, moved in the weekend before you started work.
[00:06:51] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:06:51] Speaker B: Like, how's that for a very quick transition? So over here. We also didn't see. See the place ahead of time. We wanted to, but there was just. It was very competitive. We needed to make a decision. We had friends in the area. You've seen Ms. Mary Mozzarella on the show.
[00:07:10] Speaker A: You haven't met Ricky Ravioli yet. We need to change that in the new year.
[00:07:14] Speaker B: But she is a few blocks away. And so we kind of got introduced to the neighborhood through her.
[00:07:19] Speaker A: We like it.
[00:07:19] Speaker B: Shout out to Ms. Mozzarella.
[00:07:21] Speaker A: We liked it. We thought it was good. And so we were very comfortable with the fact that these houses are new. So the house that we're in right now was built in 2021. And so I felt. And I think you did, too. I. I hope, because it kind of led on this one. But I really did feel like, hey, if the house is three years old.
[00:07:39] Speaker B: It'S not gonna have a lot of problems.
[00:07:40] Speaker A: We're safe.
[00:07:41] Speaker B: Yeah. We're good. Nothing's.
[00:07:43] Speaker A: Anything that is broken can be fixed.
[00:07:46] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:07:47] Speaker A: Where. If, like, this was a house from the 60s, I'd have a lot of questions and concerns.
[00:07:52] Speaker B: Yes. There would be a. We want to see kind of the. Remember, show us the Carfax. I'm sure they have that on houses, too.
Some sort of history of things. I would hope.
[00:08:03] Speaker A: But we felt like it was a good thing. We had some people look at pictures, and pictures can lie but we trusted the pictures.
[00:08:10] Speaker B: And honestly, the people looking at the.
[00:08:12] Speaker A: Pictures, honestly, what we got matched the pictures very well.
[00:08:16] Speaker B: Yeah. And yeah, like you said, you really had to take the lead. I was working and couldn't really be putting out the calls and doing all the things that needed to be done because my work hours are at such a time that by the time before I start, some things might be open, some are not. By the time I get done, things are.
[00:08:34] Speaker A: And that, that week of getting the house, like, I spent Wednesday going to Walmart, getting a money order.
[00:08:41] Speaker B: Yes. And then running out to the leasing.
[00:08:44] Speaker A: Office, then having to go back Friday, get another money order and go back to the leasing office, get the keys. And then I think, was it Friday night or did end of Saturday, we came over. Friday night we did come over. That's right.
[00:08:58] Speaker B: For the first time. And we had a set of like two bag chairs that were our furniture so that we had a place to sit.
[00:09:06] Speaker A: Do you remember each time we would go over, we'd bring over stuff.
[00:09:10] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:09:10] Speaker A: So the goal was try to bring over stuff. And we got very lucky. Ricky helped us out.
[00:09:16] Speaker B: Yeah. With some U Haul.
[00:09:17] Speaker A: And we ended up getting a truck, moving a bunch of things over. But like, yeah, I made a lot of little trips. And every time I made a trip over for whether it was utilities or.
[00:09:25] Speaker B: Getting envelopes, there was my desk showing up. So, you know, someone had to be here to sign for the delivery and.
[00:09:31] Speaker A: Oh, the desk.
[00:09:32] Speaker B: And because, yeah, there was definitely some kerfuffles with the delivery and the assembly.
[00:09:37] Speaker A: Yeah. But we got it done.
[00:09:39] Speaker B: Talked about more of that on chatting and what actually all happened with it got delivered early and the person that was supposed to put it together stood us up. So.
[00:09:47] Speaker A: But it got done. I mean, we made it happen.
[00:09:49] Speaker B: Got done. And you really, between all those running errands, you were calling utility companies, you were getting us set up. There was a wild goose chase to figure out who our electric company was.
[00:09:58] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. We did not know who our electric company was. We finally figured it out. It took me like three calls, but we got it done. I mean, everything worked out. And I'm so excited for 25, because my hope is that 25 is the year where things, like, are just. They're stable. We're finally, you know, we finally got it. Yeah, things are good.
[00:10:19] Speaker B: We learned a lot about our relationship this year, would you say?
[00:10:22] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:10:23] Speaker B: Because during those jobs or job loss months, things were really tough and. And we managed to not, like, snipe at each other and, you know, it would be very easy to feel a little passive aggressive. And it just wasn't something that happened for us. And the biggest thing that we really did was make sure, you know, we are a team. We are sticking together. It's not on paper, but we're the Urbans and it's not yet. Yeah, not yet.
[00:11:00] Speaker A: More about that in 2025.
[00:11:03] Speaker B: It's like, we'll get through this. And we did.
[00:11:06] Speaker A: But. Yeah, I mean, it's just one of those things where it was just like, you know, you. You could be like, well, you know, you wouldn't have had this problem if you hadn't lost your job, you know? No, it was like, you know, we supported each other and like, it was no one's fault. It just.
[00:11:19] Speaker B: It happened and it happens more than people realize. It's scary, you know, and it can happen to anyone. And it doesn't mean. It doesn't always mean, oh, someone did something wrong or.
There's just so many technicalities and reasons.
[00:11:36] Speaker A: Sometimes it's not the right fit, and sometimes it's not the right fit for us. And it's hard because you want it to be. You want that to be. I wanted Colorado to be my forever home. I. I still would have loved that. I loved Colorado. I enjoyed it. It made me happy. It was just a nice place and I really love the people there. But sometimes, you know what? It's not for us. And hopefully this is. We love this house. It's gorgeous. It's shiny and new and.
[00:12:02] Speaker B: Yeah, it has room for everything that we need.
[00:12:05] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:12:06] Speaker B: There's. Sadly, the only, like, downside is we can't do with the garage what we would have liked. Just because it's not climate controlled.
[00:12:16] Speaker A: No, it's. It's not. We're not able to do anything with it. It would be cool to make a room sitting area and stuff with it, but we can't. And that's fine.
[00:12:24] Speaker B: You know, it's kind of a junk room or if people are here and need to park their cars.
[00:12:28] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, literally the garage is kind of being used for its purpose, which is storage and car parking if someone brings a car. But, hey, it is what it is. You know what I mean? We got a nice place. We are not squished into an apartment. We're in a really nice neighborhood that we can walk around in. It's safe to walk.
[00:12:44] Speaker B: And yeah, we have jobs that we feel good about having.
[00:12:47] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:12:49] Speaker B: So I think with great people, it's a great company.
[00:12:52] Speaker A: I think we're both truly blessed I think at the end of the day, it's. It's good to just go, you know what?
It's gonna be okay. I mean, and that's. That's the thing. It's gonna be all right.
[00:13:01] Speaker B: Yeah. And, you know, to those of you who also had a difficult year, pat yourself on the back. You did it. You got through it. You survived it.
You know, things absolutely can and will look up.
[00:13:14] Speaker A: Yeah. And you just gotta have that positive attitude, and you gotta look forward and not back. And that's the biggest thing that I got told.
[00:13:21] Speaker B: And it is tough sometimes.
[00:13:23] Speaker A: I had people tell me, they're like, you gotta look forward. You can't look back. Yeah, it happened. And it's hard, and it, you know, it sucks.
[00:13:30] Speaker B: And you do ask a lot of questions. Why me? Why did this happen? You know, could I have done this or that different? And everything happens for a reason.
[00:13:38] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. And I think it put us in a really good spot. And I'm excited to see what next year brings here at 404. And listen, there's. I kind of already spilled the beans a little bit, but we. We've got stuff next year. Exciting things are happening, very exciting things happening next year, and can't wait to share them with you all. And I really look forward to the next year and just being able to have a nice, nice, full year of just, like, stability. Just.
[00:14:12] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:14:12] Speaker A: You know, I'd like to be in a place for more than a year.
It'll be the first time that really, I've lived somewhere for more than a year because, oh, my gosh, since your initial move out of Illinois, since 2022.
So it'll be nice. I look forward to it, you know, and looking forward to more good stuff in the future. So, yeah, we wanted to do one more podcast for you all before the clock struck midnight, but now we are gonna go continue our tradition of Malort.
[00:14:51] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:14:52] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh. Been looking forward to this since Christmas. For those that don't know, Malort is a liquor that is very popular in Chicago, and it's not very good.
[00:15:05] Speaker B: It kind of smells like Sharpie.
[00:15:08] Speaker A: It smells like Sharpies and turpentine. And I'm here to tell you that it tastes exactly the same.
[00:15:14] Speaker B: It's so bad. It's good.
[00:15:16] Speaker A: It really is.
It's. It's bad, but it's also good.
[00:15:21] Speaker B: Yeah. If you're indulging, drink responsibly.
[00:15:24] Speaker A: Yes. If you are enjoying a beverage or seven this holiday, please, you know, enjoy responsibly. If you are with parties and friends, and your friends are too drunk to drive. Get an Uber. Yeah, call a cab.
You know, there are, obviously by the time you hear this, hopefully, like, your New Year's passed and you're safe. But, you know, there are services out there that will get you home. I believe AAA or somebody offers on New Year's, like, I will get you home service.
[00:15:55] Speaker B: As my mom would say, don't be a goober. Get an Uber.
[00:15:58] Speaker A: Yeah.
Your mom really say that?
[00:16:01] Speaker B: She did.
[00:16:02] Speaker A: Oh, boy.
[00:16:03] Speaker B: I know.
We love your mom.
[00:16:06] Speaker A: Yeah. If you're listening, we love you, but. Oh, man, that's cringy.
[00:16:12] Speaker B: It is, but she was trying to be funny with a friend who was going to meet us out at an establishment, but was concerned about being able to get home after enjoying some adult beverages.
[00:16:23] Speaker A: Take an Uber. I mean, that's what they're there for. This is the best night to drive Uber. Yeah, you're gonna get some drunk people in your car, but, you know, hopefully they'll be nice. Get people home.
So be safe. We want to see you all back here next December 31, 2025. Hopefully we'll do another podcast where we'll talk about where 25 took us, because it is gonna take us some interesting places, I think.
[00:16:46] Speaker B: And there will be more between now and then. This isn't like the last podcast.
[00:16:50] Speaker A: Oh, no. We'll be back probably in, like, March or something, but, you know, I don't.
[00:16:55] Speaker B: Know, whenever we can. It. There's really not a schedule.
[00:16:58] Speaker A: No. That's the nice thing about this podcast. We just do this when we. When we can and when we feel like it. Like.
[00:17:04] Speaker B: Yeah, when the inspiration strikes. We're not out trying to be vloggers that have to have a daily or even a weekly thing, you know, share.
[00:17:12] Speaker A: What we had for breakfast.
No, no one cares.
So we will see you when we see you. Until next year. Thanks for listening to 404. Site not found.
