Brett

[00:00:00] Christina: [00:00:00] You are listening to overtired with Brett Terpstra and me Christina Warren, what’s up Brett.

[00:00:07] Brett: [00:00:07] Oh, that was a really good intro. Like I feel like we finally are getting like the order of words, right.

[00:00:13] Christina: [00:00:13] I know. Finally it’s only taken, uh, like close to a hundred episodes, but Hey, we’ve done it.

[00:00:19] Brett: [00:00:19] We, we have learned how to, how to talk

[00:00:22]Christina: [00:00:22] That’s an important thing, English.

[00:00:25] Brett: [00:00:25] Yeah. Um, I’m pretty good. I’m pretty good. Uh, well rested. How are you?

[00:00:30] Christina: [00:00:30] Uh, I am also fairly well rested, although, uh, I don’t want to get straight into health corner, but, but I, I had like, uh, I had some anxiety stuff last night, so I had to take a Klonopin. So that makes the whole like wake up thing a little more difficult. But other than that, I’m good. I’m good. And I mean, by and large, I can’t be too mad.

[00:00:55] It’s 11, 11, great day. It’s officially a [00:01:00] Constantine day for something corporate fans that will absolutely not make sense to anyone in our audience whatsoever do not care. Uh, but it’s also more importantly the day before my birthday. So this is actually,

[00:01:13] Brett: [00:01:13] geez. Happy birthday. I’m sure Facebook would have notified me of that tomorrow, but it’s it’s

[00:01:20] Christina: [00:01:20] Oh, and then, and I’m a dumb ass. It is, it is not 1111. It is 1110. So it’ll be 11, 11 tomorrow. And then Thursday is my birthday.

[00:01:30] Brett: [00:01:30] will go out. This will go out on 11, 11.

[00:01:34] Christina: [00:01:34] This is true. So yeah, so, so the day after this goes out, everyone should just inundate me with, um, uh, birthday wishes of tomfoolery and say, Christina, congratulations, you are, you are 29 for an nth time.

[00:01:48] Brett: [00:01:48] 29. I remember 29.

[00:01:51] Christina: [00:01:51] Me too. That’s why I’m, that’s why I’m never turning 30.

[00:01:55] Brett: [00:01:55] Yeah. I was 21 for years. I got my, I got [00:02:00] my fake ID at like 19 and I was. And then like, after I was actually 21, I kept getting a fake ID to say I was 21 for a couple more years because I had this whole Peter pan thing. I’m like, I’m going to be 21 forever.

[00:02:14] Christina: [00:02:14] Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, this meet with 29, although my fake ID. So I got it when I was 16 and I just got it to say that I was 18 because I was trying to get into some like 18 and up shows. Like I wasn’t actually trying to drink. I was just trying to get into some shows while the thing is, is that that ID then suddenly became a year 21 ID right around the time I went to college.

[00:02:41] It was pretty great.

[00:02:43]Brett: [00:02:43] Um, okay, so enough illegal ID talk.

[00:02:48] Christina: [00:02:48] This, this, this, this, this, this,

[00:02:49] Brett: [00:02:49] Um, have you heard the news about, uh, what’s his name? Uh, Joe Biden.

[00:02:54] Christina: [00:02:54] uh, that he won,

[00:02:57] Brett: [00:02:57] Uh, one something, what was it?

[00:02:59] Christina: [00:02:59] I think [00:03:00] it’s, I think it’s president of the local commerce, no president of the United States. That’s it.

[00:03:07] Brett: [00:03:07] Right, right, right, right. Um, people are saying that it wasn’t as decisive a victory as they, they hoped for, but seriously, in an incumbent election, it was, it was pretty decisive.

[00:03:22] Christina: [00:03:22] Agreed. I mean, the thing is, is that I will say I okay. A. I think that we have now been proven, we can no longer listen to Nate silver, right? Like that’s number one. Uh, and I like Nate silver a lot, but his models for the last two cycles have been completely off. And, um, uh, this other podcast, I listened to this guy and I don’t, it wasn’t this podcast, even though I really don’t agree with either of the two hosts, but they say things sometimes that are.

[00:03:52] Provocative and like purposefully trollish, which I appreciate. Um, and, and this, [00:04:00] this guy was trying to argue that, Oh, well just being off like three and a half or 4%, isn’t that big of a deal. And I was like, literally screaming and listening to this. Cause I was like, okay, anybody with even a monochrome amount of statistical knowledge will know that yes, actually that is a big deal.

[00:04:18] Like that’s pretty significant.

[00:04:21] Brett: [00:04:21] Isn’t Nate Silver’s aren’t his models like basically metal poles though. I mean, isn’t it a case of bad day.

[00:04:28]Christina: [00:04:28] Yes, it is a case of bad data in, but, um, that doesn’t mean that the models themselves aren’t still flawed. If your data is bad, like. Honestly, like I, I tried cause I tried to rationalize him being wrong four years ago and now, and it’s kind of one of those things I’m like, okay, if you’re not getting good data, that’s obviously a really big problem.

[00:04:50] And clearly, and it’s not just him, it’s all the pollsters. They’re not getting good data. People won’t talk to them. I’ve T I’ve listened to interviews with, with pollsters and they’re like, yeah. [00:05:00] Uh, The number of calls they have to make, even get somebody to pick up the phone is ridiculous. And I’m like, Oh yeah, we’ll make sense.

[00:05:07] Cause whenever I get a phone call from like unknown number, like I don’t answer.

[00:05:11] Brett: [00:05:11] well, and then Nate, silver and other, excuse me, talked about the shy Trump voters and how that, that was probably a big enough population to sway things. These people that are going to vote for Trump, but don’t want to admit it to anybody.

[00:05:28]Christina: [00:05:28] right? No, absolutely. I mean, and, and I, and I, and I like am completely 100% on board with being like, yes, all of these things are issues and are part of it that said that doesn’t change the underlying problem, which is that the data is bad. The models by extension are flawed.

[00:05:46] Brett: [00:05:46] also anyone trusting the polls going into this. I mean, we all said we didn’t, we all, we all hoped. Sure. But anyone who actually had faith in the polling. Uh, after 2016 was [00:06:00] severely misguided.

[00:06:02] Christina: [00:06:02] I mean, I would agree with that. Uh, but I think that what happened is, is that. Just well, okay. I think she thinks happened one silver was so incredibly precise in 2008, right? Like that was, that was the year that he became, like, he was at the New York times, then I believe

[00:06:20] Brett: [00:06:20] Golden boy. Yeah.

[00:06:21] Christina: [00:06:21] boy. Like, I mean, cause he was like dead on, like there were some places where he like had the counts even like correctly, like he had everything correct.

[00:06:30] He moves on to do five 38, his own thing. And again, really, really accurate. And, and then 2016 was just a blow out in the other direction. And it was just a massive failure for a lot of reasons that, um, if I, and I have friends who work at five 38 and they get really defensive and, and try to kind of come up with excuses and I’m like, you guys were just wrong, whether it was your model, whether it was your data, whatever it was, there is no way that you can explain 2016 in [00:07:00] any way, other than.

[00:07:01] You got it wrong. It’s just, you know, it didn’t work. And then I think with 2020, even though a lot of us, we’re definitely at that point, I certainly was at that point where I never really believed the polling and I was always really nervous because I’m like the pessimist in all of this always. Um, you start to hear it enough and enough that it does start to seep in.

[00:07:27]And you do start to almost accepted as an inevitability.

[00:07:30] Brett: [00:07:30] Yeah. Yeah. Well, and I was, I was prepared for it to be wrong, but as much as I prepared, I knew that if Trump had won this, I would have been just emotionally devastated. I don’t know. I would not be able to record today if Trump had won.

[00:07:51] Christina: [00:07:51] no, without a doubt, it was one of those things. And honestly, I was having major, I was talking to my shrink about this last week where I was having like, you know, just like we talked [00:08:00] about like, you know, PTSD, like kind of, you know, memory kind of flashbacks of emotional times. And, and he was talking about types of memory and types of emotions.

[00:08:10] And he was telling me all the reasons why psychologically, what I’m feeling was completely normal and whatnot. And, um, Yeah. Cause, cause it was going back to that place. And so when the polls started coming in and it started looking like that, that was, that was the thing. And it didn’t help. Um, I actually, I like MSNBC.

[00:08:31] I ha I could not watch MSNBC on election night, um, at all,

[00:08:36] Brett: [00:08:36] I gave up on MSNBC.

[00:08:39] Christina: [00:08:39] yeah. Like, because they, they became diluted to a point where I was like, you are not helping.

[00:08:45] Brett: [00:08:45] I gave up on CNN too. It’s not like fake news. Like I don’t buy into that at all, but it’s, um, It’s like reverse sycophantic.

[00:08:57] Christina: [00:08:57] Yeah. Although I did think that actually on election [00:09:00] night, CNN did a really good job. Um, it’s not that John King was, uh, was a BAMF.

[00:09:06] Brett: [00:09:06] did you watch news on election night?

[00:09:09] Christina: [00:09:09] I did,

[00:09:09] Brett: [00:09:09] I refused. There was no point. Like I knew nothing was going to be decided on election night and everything was going to, there would be a red Mirage and I just didn’t want to deal with it. I figured I’ll wait a couple of days and then check in.

[00:09:21] Christina: [00:09:21] no, totally no, but I was just at this point where I was like, I, and I ended up taking a Wednesday off because I got so stressed out by everything that I was like, I have a lot of outstanding PTO, um, that if I don’t use, I lose. So. Uh, like I have something like, like 14 days that I have to take between now and the end of the year, in addition to the vacation that I’ve been given, the way that it works is you can only roll over a certain amount.

[00:09:49] And I basically, you know, you don’t take it, you lose it. And so I have so much vacation time that if I were to take all of it, I would be out for like [00:10:00] a month and a half. And. That would be awesome, but that’s obviously not tenable. So, um, I just have to take care of the stuff that is going to expire. Um, first.

[00:10:11] And so I, I took yesterday off, I’m taking Thursday off because that’s my birthday. I took last Wednesday off and I’ll be doing a couple of other things until, you know, December when I, I do kind of a proper, you know, vacation or whatever, but, um, or staycation, cause I’m not going anywhere, but yeah, no, I was watching and I do have to say from my perspective, and some people might disagree with me.

[00:10:31] I did think that that, like John King did a really good job. Uh, people criticized him for saying that the, the. The numbers were fun. I get it. I mean, okay. Maybe that’s not the perfect phrasing, but when he gets to be on his big map and do all of the stat stuff, that’s his favorite time of the year. Like I’m not going to take that away from Sean King.

[00:10:55] Like he genuinely loves to do that and he’s good at it. Like he’s not a Steve Kornacki, [00:11:00] who is. You know, like totally nerding out about it in a different way. But John King invented the form grant and I got in a debate about this, uh, grant was like, no secret. Nike created this. I’m like, uh, no dude, John John King emitted the whole like magic wall thing.

[00:11:17] Like you can go back. They used to use the surface devices that were on a table. Like, like, no, it, it, it, it, it goes back earlier than that, but, um, Yeah, I had to watch, but, and it got better as time went on, which I think was the thing, but it was just really stressful. And then the most stressful part was watching the Georgia returns come in, which then was a multi-day process, which, uh, wow.

[00:11:43]Brett: [00:11:43] so that leads us to the other side of this conversation. Um, the, so there, there are often, there are always, let’s say since, at least, at least since 2000, there are always legal teams waiting to, to [00:12:00] do, to ensure that everything is fair to their side. And, uh, The thing about this time is these lawsuits that the Trump campaign is bringing are completely inept.

[00:12:16] Like they’re coming before courts with zero evidence and they’re coming with fucking post-it notes and hearsay and, and there’s zero for five on the big. Uh, the big lawsuits they’ve tried to bring about election fraud. They’ve had a couple of small victories that have garnered them a hundred votes here and there, but this is the least adept, uh, coup that this country has ever seen.

[00:12:45] And maybe the, the world I don’t want to, I sound like Trump. It was the, the, the least inept anyone’s ever seen. A lot of people are saying. but the, the only reason that we’re not [00:13:00] facing like an autocratic fascist right now is because he’s fucking stupid.

[00:13:05] Christina: [00:13:05] No. I agree. I mean, that’s the thing. So, so when Fox news called it for Arizona and they called it at 73% and look, they ultimately ended up being right. Um, I, I don’t know how their numbers work. I don’t know how those decision desks things work. Me personally, probably wouldn’t call it 73% in a tight state, but.

[00:13:30] Just because there’d be nothing worse than having to call it. And then, and then go back to too early to call, which is what they did in 2000. Um, but you know, Fox called it and then apparently, um, What happened, I guess they had, they had hope Hicks get on the phone with, with Raj, some senior guy at Fox news that she hired when she was at Fox news and they had Trump reaching out to people and then they had freaking, um, [00:14:00] uh, had freaking Jared.

[00:14:02] Reaching out to Rupert Murdoch, trying to get him to change the, the result at like, like Rupert cares and the, but this was a reminder to me cause people always forget this. The Jared Cushner, Jared and Ivanka are really good friends with windy. Dang, who is, uh, Rupert’s ex wife and she’s. Okay. So she was, uh, she’s Chinese.

[00:14:24] Um, uh, although like she’s an American citizen now or whatever, but she was the one who took the pie in the face for him. Um, when somebody like came and tried to try to, you know, like PI him or whatever, like she stepped in and like was kind of a, uh, uh, uh, BAMF that way. She’s also though, like, wow, there’s this amazing vanity fair article where during their very contentious divorce, like her diaries were leaks.

[00:14:48] And apparently she was fucking Eric Schmidt of Google and Vladimir Putin and Oh, and I, and I, and I believe Tony Blair, um,

[00:14:57] Brett: [00:14:57] for

[00:14:57] Christina: [00:14:57] I. Yeah. I’m like, not even [00:15:00] remotely joking. I’m going to find this and put this in the show notes because I’m 1000% I’m 1000% like not even joking. Yeah. Um, yeah,

[00:15:09]Brett: [00:15:09] I guess it was the Vladimir Putin that threw me.

[00:15:12] Christina: [00:15:12] yeah, no, not even remotely.

[00:15:14] Like this is like, uh, uh, Yeah. Like, so, so basically windy ding note, Google CEO’s so much uglier than Tony Blair. This was a thing that literally came from her diary. And then there was also like things with like Vladimir Putin. Yeah. No, this, this, I wish that I were joking with this. I am not. Anyway. She, um, has been friends with the Kushner family for years and years and years.

[00:15:37] Like even, uh, Josh Kushner who’s apparently like the quote unquote good one. Um, Like has like credits her as sort of helping make his business career. Anyway. Th th th that whole family is so screwed, but, um, anyway, so, so he’s calling Murdoch, even though let’s be real, he’s really way [00:16:00] closer with Murdoch’s ex wife and, and he’s like trying to get it changed, like, because.

[00:16:04] Yeah, he’s Jared and Jared can get, can get changed as if Rupert cares. Uh, and, and, and as of Lachlan’s going to care, you know what I mean? Like, dude, they’re not, they’re not changing. They’re not going to interfere with the, with the decision desk stuff. Um, this is the same decision desk that when they called, I believe it was Ohio for Obama in 2012, Karl Rove threw a temper tantrum.

[00:16:31]On set. And Megan Kelly had to walk down to the decision desk to get answers because she was mad at Carl Rove. And so she took the cameras with her and like went through the bowels of like the back hallways of Fox news to like, have a conversation with the decision desk and then bring them on so that they could debate.

[00:16:50] And that moment. Which look, I hate Megan Kelly, but it was genuinely fantastic television. Like it was even now I rewatched it. I shared it with somebody this week [00:17:00] and they were like, Wow. That was good. I was like, yeah, no, that was genuinely good television. And that was what made mech and Kelly a star. Uh, so you know, um, there’s a history of Fox calling things for people who are not on their side, because as with all major news organizations, the people who call the decisions are separate from the news organizations themselves.

[00:17:23] There is a literal Chinese wall. So. I thought that was just hilarious, you know, just when, when that was called, but then Georgia became like this nail biter and because I’m from Georgia and because it was Metro Atlanta, which is literally where I grew up, that became kind of like the deciding thing on stuff.

[00:17:42]I was in like this surreal moment where I’m seeing Gwinnett County and DeKalb County and Cobb County and Clayton County and even Henry County, although honestly, that’s questionable. That’s part of the Metro area. They claim it as it’s not, you know, and, and stuff like that, like being [00:18:00] mentioned on TV regularly.

[00:18:03] And I was like, Dawning on me that it’s my former classmates that are going to be making the decision in this state. And I’ve never been more scared in my life. And to be totally honest, what actually scares me more is because, you know, uh, we, uh, Biden one. Bye bye. Uh, quite a number of States, right? Like it wasn’t a two 71, two 69 situation, which it looks like it could have been at one point.

[00:18:25] Right? Like that, that, that did seem likely. And then we were all going to be like, thank God from Nebraska. But, um, but the Senate, there are two runoffs in Georgia and I’m. I mean, I’ve already donated a bunch of money to the campaigns. I will continue to donate more. I’m trying to figure out like what the best way is to do that.

[00:18:46] Cause you know, you’re limited by campaign contributions for individual candidates. So, but, but you can do more for super packs and stuff like that. So I’m trying to figure that stuff out, but, uh, you know, it is a runoff election in January. You’re [00:19:00] not going to have a lot of people come out. And I say this as a, as a former Georgia voter, because I never once voted in a runoff ever.

[00:19:08] Uh, and I consider myself to be very civically, like woke and it never, never went for a runoff. Are you kidding me? Like, that’s just a pain in the ass. So, um, maybe in an era of. Vote by mail. If that’s still going to be a thing or other stuff that would be easier. My mom did say when she voted that she was able to check online and find out from the polling stations, like what the weight was before she went in.

[00:19:37] And that they seemed at least in Gwinnett County to have it together, Gwinnett County, which went blue, which shocking. Cause I was like, I had this deep fear. I was like if Gwinnett County, which is where I grew up, if Gwinnette County goes. Like is what loses Georgia for us. I was like a, that

[00:19:54] Brett: [00:19:54] take it very personally.

[00:19:56] Christina: [00:19:56] well.

[00:19:57] I wouldn’t take it personally because I left for a [00:20:00] reason, but it would just be the most Gwinnett County thing to ever happen. Um, so I never voted in Gwinnett County. I, um, I moved, uh, you know, um, I wasn’t able to vote in the 2000 election and by the time 2004 happened, I was in college and I was living in the city of Atlanta.

[00:20:16] So I bolted, I voted in Fulton County, which goes, uh, blue, but growing up in Gwinnett County and knowing who our representatives were and knowing. All the things about those local politics, like very intimately. Yeah. Honestly seeing that shift blue, seeing Cobb County go blue was massive. I don’t think people and I don’t expect them to, but you know, just to kind of put it in perspective.

[00:20:41] So at one point, like for God, for a million men in a million years, Cobb’s um, congressmen, uh, and it wasn’t just for cop. It was for a whole other area. I actually wound up being, you know, like my, uh, voting districts, because it extended past Cobb County. I think to know about Georgia is that other than [00:21:00] Texas, which is obviously significantly larger in physical size, Georgia has the most counties of, of any state in the union.

[00:21:07] So it’s counties upon counties upon counties and, and, and the, the lines can be really, really nefarious. Like I lived in Fulton County. But less than a quarter of a mile from where I lived was DeKalb County to the point where there was a road Peachtree Dunwoody road, which is depending on what part of the road you were on.

[00:21:25] And I’m not even talking about like a long stretch of it. I’m talking about like you’re driving down like half a mile and depending on where you are on that road, depends on if you’re in Dekab or if you’re in Cobb. Or not cop if you’re in the cab or if you’re in Fulton, um, like it, you know, it is a, it’s a cluster in that way, but, um, the, the sixth congressional district was Newt Gingrich’s district.

[00:21:49] And so he was like the man there for forever until he resigned, um, in, uh, Uh, impropriety, you know, because he was having [00:22:00] an affair after he led the whole impeachment hearings about Clinton having an affair. Uh, but they, uh, but that’s always been a Republican stronghold, even though the area itself is, is fairly.

[00:22:11] Like blue, that congressional district is incredibly red. It went in 2018. And then again in 2024, um, a woman, uh, I can’t think of her last name, but her son was killed by that, um, by that fat, um, like racist dude in, in Florida who was mad about the music being loud. Do you remember

[00:22:34] Brett: [00:22:34] Yeah. Ugly

[00:22:36] Christina: [00:22:36] Okay, so yeah, so this, this guy like, uh, that he was in a gas

[00:22:39] Brett: [00:22:39] in Florida.

[00:22:40] Christina: [00:22:40] Well, that could be a lot of things, but no, this was, this was like the day after Thanksgiving and these teenagers, like just total kids are, you know, they have their base really loud and they’re in a parking lot at a gas station

[00:22:51] Brett: [00:22:51] Oh

[00:22:51] Christina: [00:22:51] tells him to turn them and he tells him to turn the music down and they do.

[00:22:54] And then one of the kids gets kind of actually it turns it back up again. And then he was like, you’re not going to talk to me like that. And he pulls out his [00:23:00] gun and he starts shooting at the car and he kills the 17 year old kid. And then. And then he tries to use, stand your ground laws. Oh, they had a gun or a sticker, something, they didn’t have anything.

[00:23:10] None of these kids had records. He’s in jail for the rest of his life. But anyway, his mother ran for Congress and she beat out the Republican incumbent. And then she won again, this term, uh, the Republican, the, uh, former Republican, you know, uh, person at the seat ran against her. She lost a second time. So sucks.

[00:23:30] UVU, Karen Handel. Um, but, but that’s like. Insane to me. Cause I’m like done what? He’s Sandy Springs like, uh, parts of, of East top. Like this is not blue in the slightest. Right? Like these are like, these are like wealthy, you know, suburban, like, yeah. Th th that is not what you think. And so seeing all these counties come in, even though it was really close, was both really exciting.

[00:23:58] And then it sinking [00:24:00] and I’m like, okay. Cause we got to do a runoff with the Senate. The future of the Senate is literally going to come down to Georgia. And once again, my former classmates and I’m like terrified.

[00:24:11] Brett: [00:24:11] that was a, that was a really long Georgia rant.

[00:24:14] Christina: [00:24:14] Yeah. Sorry about that.

[00:24:15] Brett: [00:24:15] I meanwhile, am living in, uh, Minnesota, which has been blue for as long as I can remember since the sixties. Uh, but for the last, what, 12 years, maybe longer, we have been the only blue state in this area of the Midwest. Like we have been an Island in a sea of red and I’ve always been proud to live in Minnesota.

[00:24:40] Uh, if, if. If it were, if it went red, I very likely would move, um, and further concentrate all the boats in small districts. But, um, this year we’re back, we’re back to being a wall of blue. Uh, we have, we have Michigan and Wisconsin and Illinois [00:25:00] and. Eh, we, we, there’s actually blue in the middle of the country now, and I’m not just a, all alone here, which feels like I have, uh, I’ve had a, what do you call it?

[00:25:12] A vendetta? No, a resentment for Wisconsin for a long time now, because they’re so similar to Minnesota yet so different

[00:25:23] Christina: [00:25:23] Yup.

[00:25:24] Brett: [00:25:24] they did elect a democratic governor. But they’ve always gone red and election. So it is really good to feel. Uh, some brotherly, sisterly love for Wisconsin, again, uh, that won’t matter to anyone living on the coast, but for those of us in the Midwest, uh, it’s, it’s nice to not be upset with Wisconsin.

[00:25:48] Christina: [00:25:48] Yeah, no, totally. I mean, Wisconsin and freaking Nebraska, right? Like again, like, you know, cause cause they have split votes the same as, as a couple of other States and the fact that we got that [00:26:00] one seat in Nebraska, honestly, when things were looking really, really tight and I was doing the math, it was like, okay, if we lose Pennsylvania, if we lose Georgia, if we lose all these others, as long as we can get Arizona, Nevada.

[00:26:12] Then Nebraska will be the thing that will put him over. And, and that was a shock, but yeah, Michigan came through, uh, Minnesota came through Wisconsin. Like I would be very proud if I were you that the things seem to be changing. I mean, certainly I’m in my bizarre Pacific Northwest bubble where, um, the count was so fast.

[00:26:37] Well for a couple of reasons, one we’ve been voting by mail for, I don’t know how many years has been. It predates me living in, in the state of Washington, but we’ve been voting by mail for a really long time. So even though they will count all boats that come in by 8:00 PM on election day, or that are postmarked on election day, um, Many of them come in weeks earlier.

[00:26:57] So, and they’re allowed unlike [00:27:00] Pennsylvania and some others they’re allowed to start counting earlier. So it was one of those things where they called Oregon first, because Oregon’s a much smaller state, but then like almost immediately after, you know, it was called for, for Washington, it wasn’t even a question, right?

[00:27:13] Nope. Nope. Nobody in Washington is going, gonna take issue with that. Uh, I think that there was apparently one contentious, like, uh, governor election that, that. They claimed made vote by mail look bad a decade ago. I don’t know who cares,

[00:27:29] Brett: [00:27:29] All of the, all of the examples of, of male voter snafoos are like a decade old or, or they were, or they were small, small glitches that happened in small elections.

[00:27:43] Christina: [00:27:43] Right, right. I mean, that’s the thing, right? I mean, and, and that’s also the thing where. I again, I don’t go on Facebook, but when I was trying to kind of correct the record when I could, when I would see family members posting stuff about how th how bad mail-in voting is, and I’m like, hi, I live in a [00:28:00] state that does nothing but nail and voting.

[00:28:02] It’s actually pretty great. And then they would try to like, you know, okay. But actually I’m like, no, but actually this is how it works. And it’s pretty awesome. And then when you would tell them about it, they’d be like, yeah, Oh, that, that, that does seem better. Oh. So, so you get your, your voter guide and then a few weeks later you get your ballot and you can mail it right back postage free.

[00:28:23] Or there are drop boxes all over the city and the County that you can drop them off in and you’re just done like, yeah, exactly. Oh, and there’s also a tracking thing where you can track to make sure that there’s not a problem with your ballot and. I’m like, yeah, it’s pretty great. This is maybe the way that we should do things.

[00:28:44] Brett: [00:28:44] facts and the fact that Republicans are so against mail-in voting simply speaks to the fact that if more people vote this, like our country is. Bluer than we’re allowed to [00:29:00] like our election results. Don’t show public opinion.

[00:29:05] Christina: [00:29:05] Yeah. I mean, I would say that, but I would also say if we look at the results, cause more people voted in this selection than an ever voted before and which is great, but also, you know, not everything went our way. We didn’t pick up

[00:29:17] Brett: [00:29:17] Yeah. Congressional S the congressional elections. I feel like, I mean, part of it is, is just districting, but part of it is, I think there were a good number of people who honestly, couldn’t stand Trump, but couldn’t stand to vote Democrat. So they thought. If they put in a democratic president, but kept the Senate red, that they could just gridlock it until something better came along.

[00:29:44] Christina: [00:29:44] no, and I can see that, but I could also see the argument. And honestly, I, uh, Don’t have a problem with this. I mean, even though it goes against, I think my interest in the interest of, of almost every person in our country, I don’t have a problem with the [00:30:00] fact that let’s just have more people voting. If more people are voting, if it comes out to be like disadvantageous to my side.

[00:30:09] Okay. So be it,

[00:30:11] Brett: [00:30:11] Yeah, but, but it’s a, at least a democracy.

[00:30:14] Christina: [00:30:14] Exactly because the thing is, is what bothers me is that it’s so such a clear kind of thing about voter suppression. And that’s really what it’s about though. The reason that that the Republicans are against mail and voting is because it is an extension of Jim Crow, laws and gerrymandering and voter suppression.

[00:30:30] And there was I’ll I’ll see if I can find it to put it in the show notes, but there was a really good article. I think it was in the Atlantic. It might’ve been in the New York times magazine about kind of the history. Of, um, voting rights acts, um, being, um, rolled back and actually showing that Republicans used to historically be very in favor of voting rights acts.

[00:30:52] And it used to be kind of a understood and kind of like a gimme thing that anybody would do for their own electoral reasons [00:31:00] until I guess around 2008, when, uh, or maybe around the tea party era, when it started shifting and you started to see these pushbacks and, and. But, but what all I’m trying to get at is, is that it’s this misnomer that is to say honestly, uh, I do think it’s a misnomer to say, well, if more people vote, they’re going to vote blue.

[00:31:21] That might be true, but that’s not necessarily true because we did see far more. People vote in this election than we’ve ever had before. And that’s significant. And I would much rather be in a place where more people vote. Even if it doesn’t go my way than be in a place where we are limiting, who is able to vote.

[00:31:40] Like obviously you have to follow whatever the law is. Right. I’m not saying that, but I would, I, I, but voter suppression is a real issue. And if. The Democrats or whatever party I support are going to lose. I would rather them lose on the merits and lose because everyone had the opportunity to vote and not lose because people couldn’t actually have the [00:32:00] opportunity to vote.

[00:32:01] Brett: [00:32:01] Or, or, or their votes were nullified by, by gerrymandering and redistricting.

[00:32:06] Christina: [00:32:06] exactly. I mean, and that’s a much bigger issue. Uh, but, but I think, and that obviously I think has, if we’re being totally honest, much bigger consequences because local and state politics do impact a lot of things. But when we talk about national elections, you know, the, the things that, that. Uh, prevent people from voting because the thing is, is what we always see is that voter registration numbers go up, they go way, way up.

[00:32:28] But then the numbers of people who actually the percentage of people who are registered, who actually do vote usually don’t. And that was what was interesting about this election. For the first time you saw a significant turnout. And I, I think that you can, there’s no way that you can’t draw the conclusion, even though there were some in-person voting numbers that were high, they were almost all for Republicans.

[00:32:50] Um, and, and they were able to get. You know, props to them, really good in-person turnouts. Like I’m not gonna criticize that like game respects game. They had [00:33:00] really impressive in person turnouts, but you had a lot of people who voted by mail voted another ways who might were able to get absentee ballots who might not have otherwise have taken time, or maybe even had the ability to be part of the process because you don’t get time off of work.

[00:33:15] You have to wait in long lines. It’s it’s painful. You know, if you don’t have certain things filled out, then you have to go back. Am I at the right polling place? Am I not? Like when I voted once in Brooklyn, like I was at the wrong polling place and I had to do a, like a, you know, um, what do they call them?

[00:33:30] Like the provincial, um, you know, a provisional ballots. And then, you know, you have to, you have to go and like sign something and get it fixed. And, um, that’s not an uncommon situation. And so when you take those barriers away, which shocker, most other countries in the world have done. Then what do you know, like voter turnout percentage is, is higher?

[00:33:54] Um, I am firmly against making it mandatory, uh, that [00:34:00] might be unpopular, but I am, I am actually very against making, voting mandatory that, that gets a little bit too, too, too tall, too totalitarian for my liking. Um, I think that every person should vote, but I also respect the. You know, choice that people might want to make to opt out of the process.

[00:34:22] That said, I do feel like if you haven’t been part of the process, I don’t want to hear you complaining. Like, that doesn’t mean that you don’t get to benefit from the services, but I just personally don’t want to hear you bitching and moaning on Twitter or Facebook or on public radio. As I sometimes hear people say, Oh, well, I didn’t vote, but I’m like, okay, well then shut up, you know,

[00:34:40] Brett: [00:34:40] So we’ve, we’ve got 35 minutes of election talk. That’s that’s pretty good. But my ADHD has kicked in

[00:34:49] Christina: [00:34:49] Yep. The same.

[00:34:50] Brett: [00:34:50] speaking of. Not to change the subject too abruptly. But I had a question from a listener who we have effectively [00:35:00] scared because like, we’ve talked about how hard it is to get meds and how hard it is to find doctors and, and they think they have ADHD.

[00:35:10] Uh they’re they’re fairly certain through self-diagnosis, but they’re unsure of what to do next. So. I wanted to talk about our own personal experiences with getting diagnosed and getting treatment. So for me, where I live, there’s only one clinic that will do the ADHD testing. Um, and, and as far as I know, this is true everywhere, but what that involved was going in and doing, uh, it’s not a written test there, there’s a lot of question and answer, but then there’s also like, Uh, there’s this test where that you sit in front of a screen and it starts flashing letters.

[00:35:52] And I can’t remember exactly how it works, but you hit the space bar for every letter except certain ones. And it’s, [00:36:00] it’s pretty simple, but it tests like how quickly your attention shifts basically it’ll like give you the same thing. Hit space bar, hit space bar, hit space bar, and then surprise you. And if you just hit the space bar, you like it, it makes a note.

[00:36:15] And, uh, then the long, like basically yes or no tests, and then there’s a thing they send home that you have to have. A loved one or like a parent in cases of, of young people. Um, they fill out a questionnaire and then there is the third part, uh, just an interview with a psychiatrist that kind of goes over your, your history and your, um, things like your emotional reactions and your emotional range, things like that, that are indicative of ADHD.

[00:36:48] And once you get through all that, Which, by the way I had to pay for out of pocket and cost like $800, but a lot of insurance will cover it. Uh, once you get through all that, they give you a [00:37:00] diagnosis either way, and then that’s what you need to take. To a psychiatrist because in this modern era of, of drug abuse and, and, uh, uh, w uh, service providers being scared to do anything without that diagnosis, you probably can’t get treatment, but with it, it’s pretty simple.

[00:37:22]Christina: [00:37:22] Yeah. Um, okay. So interestingly, okay. So my experience is totally

[00:37:26] Brett: [00:37:26] Oh, do tell.

[00:37:28] Christina: [00:37:28] although I bet yours is more common into what it is. Okay. So with the caveat, so when were you diagnosed with ADHD?

[00:37:35] Brett: [00:37:35] Just a couple of years ago.

[00:37:37] Christina: [00:37:37] Okay. All right. So I was diagnosed in the olden days. I was diagnosed like 17 years ago and, um, Shit longer than that actually like 20 years ago.

[00:37:48] And, uh, although originally I believe I was given the diagnosis, even though I might not have had the diagnosis. I was given the medication for, um, [00:38:00] like an off-label usage. Right. So I was taking antidepressants and then they were giving me, um, Dexedrine, uh, I think they might have started with, with, um, um, what was the one that everybody used before Adderall? Yes, they might’ve given me Ritalin. Um, and, and then switched it to Dexedrine, uh, as comes to counteract the, uh, side effects of my antidepressants, which were making me really tired. And I was not on a SSRI, which are a, um, a selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors, which are the most common types of antidepressants.

[00:38:34] I was on an older type of antidepressant because my body at that time, Couldn’t really deal with SSRI is, and one of the side effects of them was that it made you tired and lacked focus and some other things. Um, although I was already starting to exhibit real ADHD symptoms for the first time in my life.

[00:38:53] So my background not to get too long into it, but it was a, it was a big shock for me. [00:39:00] When, even in college, when I finally got the diagnosis, because up until I would say about the age of 15. I was probably the quintessential non ADHD person. Um, I had OCD tendencies and I was a high perfectionist, but I didn’t have any problems really with concentration.

[00:39:23] I didn’t have problems getting things done on time. I was. You know, uh, fairly, I would say stereotypical type, a incredibly neat, organized, like the point where, you know, things were out of place or whatever, like that would really bother me, you know? And then something in my biochemistry switched around the time I hit puberty and I hit puberty late.

[00:39:46] Um, and I, for a long time sort of not blamed it, but I guess associated it with Paxil because when I went on Paxil, It, it, I suddenly started to have like textbook ADHD [00:40:00] symptoms. Uh, but even when I got off of the Paxil and I went to say Wellbutrin, and then I went on like, like 15 other

[00:40:06] Brett: [00:40:06] Sure. Sure. I’ve been through that. Yeah.

[00:40:08] Christina: [00:40:08] it right. I think, I think most, most people have like, it went into different stuff, but for me, so my first shrink who. Kind of diagnosed me that way. He was just kind of giving it to me for kind of an off label thing. And then my current shrink, who I’ve been with since I was, uh, 20. So I’ve been with him for 17 years.

[00:40:28] He gave me the interview test. And I didn’t ever have the hit the space bar thing and I didn’t ever have, um, you know, like the, the questionnaire that, you know, people around you fill out, maybe my parents might’ve been interviewed. I’m not sure, but he, my psychiatrist did the interview and asked me questions and observed me and had me journal and kind of go through things.

[00:40:50] And his practice, he focuses on a lot of things, but one of his actual, like, Focus areas like he’s written books about it and, and is, is [00:41:00] known as kind of like one of the experts in the field of ADHD in children. And, uh, so he diagnosed me. When I was 20 and, and, you know, continued me on kind of my medical regimen and, and I’ve tried different things.

[00:41:17] I was, I was on, um, Provigil for a long time, which was amazing. And then, um, you know, I’ve tried to be on Vyvanse, which for whatever reason does not work for me. So I’ve stayed on, on the deck. It’s a dream, but here’s the interesting thing. When I moved to Washington state. I needed to get back on my meds. I had ghosted my shrink, which is dumb.

[00:41:38] Um, I saw that, but I’d go to Tim for a while and I needed to get back on medication. And I went into, uh, just kind of meeting with a GP and told her what my symptoms were told. Her other stuff told her that I had a diagnosis, but she didn’t check. And she gave me, you know, scripts. I was able to get three months worth [00:42:00] of.

[00:42:00] Um, Dexedrine. And after that point, If I were to continue to get scripts from them, then they would have need to have had a conversation with my doctor back home who had the diagnosis, or I guess I would have had to be rediagnosed. Uh, although I wouldn’t have had to go through that. Um, and because my doctor can just mail me my script and I live in a state that will fill out of state prescriptions, not every state will, but mine will because this is a schedule two.

[00:42:28] So there are different, um, like rules around that they do that the pharmacy does have to call. The doctor’s office to make sure that it’s correct. Although I have been saved by some very nice pharmacists in the past too, when I’ve been running really low and it’s going to be, I’m not going to have it, and they need to make a call where they’ve just gone ahead and filled it for me.

[00:42:48] Brett: [00:42:48] you’ve had really good luck with that.

[00:42:50] Christina: [00:42:50] I have had really good luck with that. Not to mention I had people when I was in Atlanta and my insurance wouldn’t cover certain stuff who just magically would give me a few [00:43:00] extra pills.

[00:43:01]Brett: [00:43:01] our experiences are so different.

[00:43:03] Christina: [00:43:03] they are, but, but, but this is I think important, right? Because I don’t want to freak people out one way or another. You probably are not going to have my really good experiences in terms of pharmacists and stuff like that. But you’re also probably not going to have Brett’s experiences of having only one person who can diagnose

[00:43:19] Brett: [00:43:19] So like, I, my original, when I first started taking ADHD medication, Uh, was actually in my thirties and that was, it was prescribed by a GP. And, uh, it, it, it was a really easy process. I told him what was up. He said, I think, uh, uh, Focalin could help you, or actually, yeah, he put me on Adderall and I requested a change to focal and all that.

[00:43:44] It was super easy back then. Uh, and in the 10 years, since then, Things have changed. Uh, at least in Minnesota, things have gotten significantly more, uh, strict about having tested diagnosis and [00:44:00] everything.

[00:44:00] Christina: [00:44:00] Definitely. And I will say it depends on what state you’re in and also like who your insurance is through and stuff like that. Cause like I do know in Washington state, because I’ve walked through this process with friends. So even though I haven’t gone through this process myself, I have gone through this process in Washington state with friends, as well as, um, uh, you know, um, uh, Oregon state and, and, um, California.

[00:44:21] Um, with people, cause a friend of mine in California was, was diagnosed with ADHD. I’ll have to ask her if she had to go through the test, but it wasn’t a big deal. It was one of those things where they’re going to ask you questions. And if you really know that you’re ADHD, like if you really feel strongly about it, there are ways to answer those questions that will ensure, or maybe not ensure, but will definitely lead to the psychiatrists,

[00:44:48] Brett: [00:44:48] we absolutely do not recommend looking up the answers if you’re not actually ADHD, because it fucks it up for the rest of us.

[00:44:56] Christina: [00:44:56] I agree. And I’m not in no way trying to say to do that, but, but what I am saying is that [00:45:00] if you have an inkling, if you’re, if you’re not sure going to a psychiatrist to do it, I haven’t done those tests. And I don’t know if every state has those tests might have to do it. The biggest thing though, is you need to meet with a psychiatrist and you need to talk with them.

[00:45:13] And, um, I’m lucky in that my psychiatrist is also my therapist, which is a very rare thing and is fairly uncommon. But if you can find a psychiatrist who also does therapy, that can really be key because a, they can give you the diagnosis and the prescriptions, but B they can also talk to you. And they have a little more of, I guess, like the, you know, um, The empathy and the, uh, the soft skills so to speak so that it’s not just cause a lot of times what’ll happen is that you have a separate therapist and a separate psychiatrist and the psychiatrist is just writing new scripts and they’re just kind of looking at the data and they don’t really know you or know anything about you.

[00:45:54] And they’re maybe listening to what. Your reactions have been, but, but they don’t really care. You [00:46:00] know, like, uh, grant called his in New York, dr. Worksheet. And, and that’s basically what that is. And so if you can find someone who can do both and that’s not easy, but if you can, if you can, that’s ideal. Um, but the bigger thing I would say is you just need to find a psychiatrist and you need to go in for an appointment and you need to tell them how you’re feeling.

[00:46:20] And what I would say is. Obviously, and in no way, are we recommending or encouraging? Cause as you say, it ruins it for everyone, don’t look up the answers to the test and that dance. But what I would look up is you can look up the checklist of symptoms and you can figure out do these things apply to me.

[00:46:35] And what I would start doing is I would start taking notes. This is what I’ve, I’ve encouraged my friends who, after talking to me and hearing my experiences, they’re like, maybe I have this. And I’m like, look, I’m not a doctor. I can’t diagnose anything. But if you are having these things. I would, I would take copious notes, write things down and I get it.

[00:46:53] That’s hard to do when you’re ADHD, but you at any way, but, but, but force yourself to do it anyway, make notes of stuff, even make [00:47:00] notes about the fact that it’s hard for you to take the notes. Right. Um, uh, and, and, and going through the course of the day, you know, comment on. It’s hard for me to switch tasks or it’s hard for me to stay on task, or it’s hard for me to, you know, uh, follow a conversation and, and remember where I am in something.

[00:47:18] And some of the stuff, frankly, every single person on the planet suffers to one extent to another. It just comes down to the severity of it. The thing I would say too, and I’m curious from your perspective on this, but. ADHD and adults we’re finally getting better about it. And we’re finally getting better about diagnosing people with it, but for such a long time, it really was one of those things that was almost exclusively diagnosed in childhood.

[00:47:44] Brett: [00:47:44] I still, I still run into that. I’ve had, uh, I’ve had. Our friends, not psychiatrists, but our friends tell me that adults don’t have add. And that I w I wouldn’t be medicated for it.

[00:47:55]Christina: [00:47:55] Yeah. Um, that’s disappointing and sad and scary. [00:48:00] Uh, fortunately that’s starting to change, but you’re right. That stigma still exists. It’s gotten a lot better. I think part of the reason it’s gotten better is that more people are willing to talk about it. Uh, I think what’s also happened is that the kids who were diagnosed and yeah, many of them probably were.

[00:48:14] Overly diagnosed. I, I don’t disagree with that. I do feel like in the nineties, there was this push to diagnose every single person as ADHD, um, uh, or, or add before they, you know,

[00:48:27] Brett: [00:48:27] Right, right, right.

[00:48:29] Christina: [00:48:29] And that, that was like, kind of the thing. Every, every kid who had even the slightest amount of, of bounce in their step or couldn’t focus on something or boredom.

[00:48:39] Was now an ADHD child and that’s just not the case, but what’s happened with that is that even if you take those, even if you accept that there was an over-diagnosis and I personally think there was a, many of the people who were. You know, diagnosed incorrectly are no longer on medication and that isn’t an issue, but B the people who really were who’ve gone [00:49:00] on to be, you know, successful, or at least, you know, by what, and by successful, I mean, you know, they’re living their lives.

[00:49:06] Like they’re not like destitute, you know what I mean? Like,

[00:49:09] Brett: [00:49:09] not necessarily rich, but they are able to live a normal human life. Yeah.

[00:49:13] Christina: [00:49:13] Exactly what’s happened is that those people are now in their thirties or their forties. And so. That completely erases this myth, that it’s only children, because you do see it in adults. And then you also see it increasingly in, um, and again, this, this comes down to where you live and what sort of bubble you’re in, but tech workers, it’s an incredibly common diagnosis, uh, is part of it.

[00:49:39] Medication shopping. You know what I bet part of it is I think it’s a small part to be totally honest. I don’t think it’s as big of a part as people would think. I think that the, the kind of, uh, like. I guess like cliche of like the, you know, engineer software programmer, who’s getting high on Adderall is really overblown.

[00:49:58] I think there’s like some [00:50:00] truth to that, but it’s very, very small instead. What tends to happen is that, um, a lot of people are probably like you and I, and that, um, we’re relatively high functioning and, um, Like, I, I know I am anyway, like I’m, I’m, high-functioning 80 ADHD and, and without medication, because I’ve proven this to myself again, do not recommend dumbest thing I’ve ever done, where I was able to basically live life and, and, and do.

[00:50:31] Relatively what I needed to get done, but it was a struggle. It wasn’t easy. And it was one of those things where I had to hide it all the time. And I had to overcompensate all the time and it took a tremendous amount of work. That would be much easier if I just had medication and the proper support.

[00:50:45] Right. But, um, I think that’s what, what makes it hard sometimes in adults is that people think, Oh, well, this isn’t debilitating to the point that I can’t get anything done. So therefore I don’t have this. That’s not true. [00:51:00] There, there are levels of

[00:51:01] Brett: [00:51:01] things can just be harder than they should be. Like a lot of people can. Uh, well, and there are people who, who choose not to take medication and, and go the therapy route. And you can accomplish a certain thing Mt. With, with therapy, um, behavioral model , uh, exercise, diet, and meditation.

[00:51:25] Like those are all things that for some people. Can help them get through. Uh, but medication just, it makes things way, way easier. Uh, and, and that’s not to say that one has to be instead of the other, uh, like learning about, uh, uh, what do they call it? C CB, cognitive BA CBT learning

[00:51:51] Christina: [00:51:51] Yeah. Cognitive behavioral therapy. Yeah. Right. Which, which ironically, I was first going on when I was like [00:52:00] 16 and like 1999. Um, That can be really effective. The only thing I will ever stress to anybody about cognitive behavioral therapy, and this is less for ADHD where I think it can be really effective.

[00:52:11] This is more for depression. If you’re so severely depressed that you can’t get out of bed, like you’re at that level, cognitive therapy is not going to help you. Uh, no matter what the doctors say, you probably need some sort of medication to get you past that point. And then you can, and look that doesn’t mean you have to stay on it forever.

[00:52:32] You can go off of it. But if you’re like, literally at, at that, like I cannot physically get out of bed point. CBT is more than likely not going to help that said. Because I do do some cognitive behavioral therapy stuff and I do do talk therapy and whatnot. Like it’s a core part of a by treatment. I said, do you do?

[00:52:53] But like, I it’s like a core part of my personal kind of regime is incredibly beneficial. So yeah, you don’t have to go on [00:53:00] medication. That’s that’s I think that’s a great point you point out. Uh, but also I think that, um, you know, it’s going to vary state by state, but talking to a psychiatrist is the first thing who your insurance company is.

[00:53:12] And like what network you’re in is another thing. Again, like I’m so insanely lucky that I live in, um, a city that you know, is, uh, congregated by, you know, wealthy tech workers. And that means that there are a lot more opportunities and I guess, less of a stigma around. Um, diagnoses, not just for ADHD, but for depression and for people who are bipolar for people who have anxiety or other sorts of stuff.

[00:53:44] Right. Uh, the more, I think, rural you get the harder it is to find a doctor. And I think the more specialized you are, like I, uh, and I’m sure this is much different now, but when I was first, like starting to exhibit [00:54:00] really, really bad signs of depression when I was. 13, there were only a handful of, um, child psychiatrists, um, in the, in the city of Atlanta, like in the Metro area.

[00:54:14] And, and that specialized specifically in children for things like depression. There are a lot of people who did stuff with ADHD, but for depression there weren’t a lot. And I went through them and most of them were terrible, honestly. Uh, and, um, That’s the that’s the other thing I would gauge too, is that some of the stuff we’re saying, I know it seems scary and daunting.

[00:54:34] Um, I don’t want to freak anybody out from trying, but I do just want to prepare. You might get super lucky and you might be able to just walk in and get an appointment with someone and have them give you a diagnosis and start getting on meds and trying out to see what works for you and God. I hope that that’s how that works.

[00:54:51] If it’s not what happens. I really encourage people, especially if you feel like you’ve got a problem and you feel like something’s not right to keep [00:55:00] at it. And I know that can be demoralizing. I know it can be hard. And I know that it can be disruptive to your life, but gosh, is it

[00:55:08] Brett: [00:55:08] Yeah, for sure. Um, you’ve given what, your age twice in this episode.

[00:55:14] Christina: [00:55:14] I know, I know, but, but I’m, but I’m 29. So.

[00:55:19]Brett: [00:55:19] For all intents and purposes. Yeah. Okay. Um, I feel like, I feel like we might’ve helped somebody.

[00:55:27] Christina: [00:55:27] I hope so. If you have other questions, if you want to, you can contact with any of us, like directly, like, um, I’m always happy to talk to people in DMS or by email, um, uh, or, or you could chat with us in our discord, like not publicly, but like in private, like one-on-one stuff. Um, or, or email like genuinely, um, I, I’m not gonna like put, put bread on blast for that,

[00:55:47] Brett: [00:55:47] no, that’s fine. You can always contact me, uh, um, TT scuff on Twitter and definitely the discord is a great place to find us.

[00:55:55] Christina: [00:55:55] yeah. I’m filming middle school girl on Twitter and I’m on the discord and you can email me [00:56:00] Christina at Christina dot I S um, but yeah, I mean, if people have questions, uh, go through it. That is interesting about like the. The pressing the button test. I wonder how I would do about how I would do with that.

[00:56:12] There’s a part of me that feels like I might pass that test. You know what I mean?

[00:56:17] Brett: [00:56:17] you’d be surprised unmedicated. Uh, Because I consider myself to have pretty good reflexes, but yeah, I pretty much flat out failed that test.

[00:56:29]Christina: [00:56:29] that’s interesting. I know. I kind of want to take it just to see what it would be like, but yeah, I mean, I probably would fail. It’s just, it just differs. Everybody’s everybody’s thing is different.

[00:56:38]Brett: [00:56:38] Yeah. Well, and that’s. That’s why the tests are so kind of expansive because not only are they testing for ADHD, they’re testing for what type of ADHD you have, whether it’s an attentive or say other one hyperactive. Um, and so there’s a lot of like, it covers a lot of bases. So it, [00:57:00] yeah, I think the testing is even if you’re not going to go on medication, getting that diagnosis and knowing what you’re dealing with is, is a great first step.

[00:57:09]Christina: [00:57:09] No. I totally agree. Even if you don’t want to go on medication, you want to do the other stuff, just know what you’re dealing with. And, and frankly also, uh, like real talk. It is an ADA thing, right? Like this is considered a disability and means you can get special provisions. You don’t have to take advantage of them.

[00:57:25] You don’t have to note it for your employer. If you’re not comfortable with that. But it does mean that if you have a diagnosis, there are provisions that your employer has to make for you. Like there are accommodations that they have to make for you. Um, like I never took advantage of any of this stuff with standardized tests or any of that, although maybe I should have, um, you know, I, I never did any of that stuff and, and.

[00:57:47] Again, this is one of those things where I feel like the, so many people it’s overblown, how that’s abused. And, and I think that that rhetoric is actually really dangerous because I don’t think it’s abused very often, but it’s also one of those things [00:58:00] where yeah, if, depending on, you know, like there are things that are like required by at least in the United States, by the Americans with disabilities act where your employers have to make certain concessions and provisions and, and accommodations for you.

[00:58:12] Um, if, if you have a diagnosis

[00:58:14] Brett: [00:58:14] I didn’t know that.

[00:58:16] Christina: [00:58:16] Yeah. Yeah. And that’s true whether you have whether or not you’re on medication or not. I mean, and that can be things in terms of. You know, needing to have more time to do certain tasks or having, you know, differences in your schedule or other stuff like there, there are a number of things or, or being able to, if you say, Hey, is I get really distracted with certain things and these sorts of, you know, communication styles or whatever we’re doing.

[00:58:41] Really distracts me and, and finding ways to work around that. There are a lot of things that can go into that. And those are things that, um, they have to make a reasonable, um, uh, you know, attempt to accommodate that doesn’t mean that they can change everything, but they have to make a reasonable attempt.

[00:58:55] So, and the, and those are mandated, right? Like that that’s like, this is like [00:59:00] federal law. Like, this is. Something that that’s very important. And I, and I also to be totally candid. Um, and then we’ll, we’ll stop this. I know we’re basically out of time, but, uh, I think it’s important that if you would get benefit from those services that more people use, because it shuts down the stigma and, and also it’s one of those things that if someone tries to.

[00:59:23] Fire you or hurt your career in some way, because of your diagnosis. That is a mass, like, um, not to say that it can’t happen and that it won’t, and that it doesn’t happen sometimes. But what I am saying is that is what we would call a slam dunk, um, uh, like EOC, which is the, you know, employee, whatever, like counsel that that’s equal employment.

[00:59:47] You know, uh, whatever the other th that, that is, that is a slam dunk, uh, what we would call like legal case in terms of getting a settlement for, for something

[00:59:58] Brett: [00:59:58] Yeah. Good [01:00:00] information. I actually didn’t know about the whole ADA thing. That’s a. Not that I have an employer to worry about, but

[01:00:07] Christina: [01:00:07] right. But, but, but, but, but if, but if, you know, and I don’t think that it applies for like freelance stuff, but if you were to take like a, a job someplace else. Yeah. No, that like, Hey, This is something that I have it’s and it’s real. I think that’s the thing that a lot of people struggle with. Don’t you think that they don’t, they don’t feel like it’s real.

[01:00:24] Like, even if they have a diagnosis, they’re like, okay, but they’re like, Oh, but this isn’t a real thing. No, this is a real thing.

[01:00:29] Brett: [01:00:29] No, it is, it is one of the most well documented and researched, um, mental illnesses or, uh, handicaps that, uh, you’ll find in the, uh, what’s that book that nurses use.

[01:00:44] Christina: [01:00:44] Uh, the DSM.

[01:00:44] Brett: [01:00:44] Yeah. Like it, it

[01:00:47] Christina: [01:00:47] the diagnosis is statistical manual.

[01:00:49] Brett: [01:00:49] yeah. Research has been done on add than almost any other ailment. Uh, it, it is a real thing and it has real effects.

[01:00:57]Christina: [01:00:57] Yup.

[01:00:59] Brett: [01:00:59] So [01:01:00] our show, no, no. It’s are going to be really short. Like basically the only thing we’ve talked about that I could easily link is the, uh, the Wendy dang, dang, dang, dang. Um, his or her, her story. Uh, and, uh, we can do some general links for. Uh, Georgia elections and ADHD diagnosis, but yeah, it’s

[01:01:25] Christina: [01:01:25] Oh, yeah.

[01:01:26] Brett: [01:01:26] notes.

[01:01:27] Christina: [01:01:27] Short notes. Sorry about that. Uh, went on a tangent, also anybody who has the, um, interest in donating, and I’m certainly not trying to tell people what to do or not, but if you want to donate to the, any of the packs or whatever, for the two recall races in Georgia for the Senator, that would be awesome.

[01:01:46] Brett: [01:01:46] yeah. Do, do you have links for that?

[01:01:49] Christina: [01:01:49] Yeah. I will get leased for that. Um, Uh, Oh, there actually, there’s one thing that’s really funny. So you know, the whole, okay. We’re going to go a little bit long, but we have to talk about it. Cause it’s too funny. Did you see the four [01:02:00] seasons,

[01:02:00] Brett: [01:02:00] yes. And, and I saw an explanation that said it w it was very intentional because this was, uh, a good example of a successful American business, a small business. Yeah, no, that was, that was pretty clearly, uh, just a fuck up on, uh, on their event. Planners part.

[01:02:19] Christina: [01:02:19] massive. Somebody Googled, they got the wrong place. They called the place who took the call, who they seem like, okay, enough people. Um, uh, like I think they’re Trump supporters. I’m not going to

[01:02:31] Brett: [01:02:31] They said, they said we would have, we would have welcomed any, any politician. That’s what they said. So

[01:02:38] Christina: [01:02:38] Yeah. Which, which, which fair. Right. And, and I have to imagine somebody calls and they’re like, we want to do this outside your place. And you’re like, okay, cool.

[01:02:45] Brett: [01:02:45] our, in our driveway. Sure.

[01:02:47]Christina: [01:02:47] Exactly. Right. Like, I mean, you know, and, and I mean, who’s, who’s going who’s to correct Rudy Giuliani’s people they show.

[01:02:55] And then what, what happened is because they tweeted the wrong thing. The four seasons Philadelphia [01:03:00] very quickly was able to be like, we’re not doing this. So at this point you don’t have any other option now, had it been like. Trump or had it been somebody who was maybe higher up the ranks than, than Rudy?

[01:03:13] I think that they would have postponed and found an actual hotel, but

[01:03:18] Brett: [01:03:18] It’s Rudy

[01:03:19] Christina: [01:03:19] It’s Rudy, whatever. So it’s great, but there’s this, uh, thing, um, on, uh, uh, Threadless, uh, somebody created, so that company now has official merge, which good for them. But somebody created a shirt that has a gritty on a lawn lawnmower, uh, is what it looks like.

[01:03:38] Or if not a, a lawn mower than like a Jim bony. I don’t know. He sound like a four Wheeler. And, and it says welcome to four seasons, total landscaping, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, not the four seasons, um, uh, hotel Philadelphia. It’s a funny shirt. It’s $25 and all the money is going towards the, um, Georgia. Um, uh, [01:04:00] Um, runoff elections.

[01:04:02] So if you want to get funny merge there that’s one. And then the official, total landscaping, uh, four seasons, total landscaping also has official merge, which I’m also considering buying, uh, because I, I don’t think you and I have ever talked about this, but I buy merge of flux companies or a funny things.

[01:04:26] Like that’s a thing that I do. Did you know this about me?

[01:04:29] Brett: [01:04:29] No, I, I, I don’t think I did.

[01:04:32] Christina: [01:04:32] Okay. So like I have a movie pass t-shirt and I bought a quippy shirt. And I have fire festival merchandise that I got way before they had the auction for the fire festival stuff. Uh, I got my way cheaper. I was not going to pay those auction prices.

[01:04:47] Um, and I have, uh, I have like a, an Enron mug somewhere and anyway, I collect fucked company stuff. And so I think that, that this would, this is if I could get an actual four seasons [01:05:00] thing that might be, um, uh, funny. Um,

[01:05:04] Brett: [01:05:04] I’ll get you a bit writer. T-shirt

[01:05:06] Christina: [01:05:06] Yeah. Yeah.

[01:05:08] Brett: [01:05:08] old joke.

[01:05:09] Christina: [01:05:09] old joke. No. Well, well, okay. True story. And then we’ll, we’ll stop.

[01:05:14] When Trump first announced his candidacy, you know, when we all thought it was going to be a joke and before I was watching one of the first debates with, and, and I I’m going to sound like such an asshole, but I don’t care. It was one of those. Most surreal slash coolest moments of my life. I was watching the first Republican debate in 2015 with Dan rather.

[01:05:39]Yeah,

[01:05:41] Brett: [01:05:41] That’s that’s pretty cool.

[01:05:43] Christina: [01:05:43] Honestly, it was, I was drinking a beer. He had some whiskey, I was drinking a beer. There were a bunch of us in the office and everybody was, was, you know, an all cause it Stan rather. And, um, I was of course spouting off like an asshole, like I am. And I was like, I was like, I’m just calling it [01:06:00] now, guys, he’s going to win the nomination, this first debate.

[01:06:02] And everybody immediately jumps on me and they’re like, you’re wrong? You don’t know what you’re talking about. This and that. And then Dan, who has his hearing AIDS in, and it has been kind of stoic this whole time. He was like, okay. No, actually, I think she’s right. And he goes on this whole thing to explain his reasons, which were much better reason than me, which was just a gut reaction.

[01:06:19] That’s that’s my one Dan rather thing. But before all that happened before, like it seemed like this was going to be a real thing. I almost bought a make America great hat because I was like, Oh, would not. Would this be a great Momento of such a hilarious and failed, you know, sad attempt at someone running for president.

[01:06:41] Thank God. I thank God. I didn’t, because it would’ve just, I would’ve had to burn it out, had to get rid of it. Like there’s no way I could’ve kept it around, but, but I wanted to do it cause it like, I, I love having momentos of that stuff. Um, but, uh, yeah,

[01:06:56] Brett: [01:06:56] you see Amy Sedaris, uh, instructions for things you can do with your, [01:07:00] your maggot hat?

[01:07:01] Christina: [01:07:01] no I didn’t, but we should link to that.

[01:07:03] Brett: [01:07:03] yes. I’ll, I’ll make a note. Uh, she tweeted a diagram of how to turn it into a suppository.

[01:07:09]Christina: [01:07:09] Oh my

[01:07:11] Brett: [01:07:11] weirdly she spelled Vaseline wrong. She spelled it with an O I don’t know who, who made this graphic. Like she may have just been reached waiting it, but, um, she spelled it with an O and the weird part of that is there’s a photo-shopped Vaseline container with it spelled wrong. Like how hard would it have been to just grab a product image off of like target.com.

[01:07:34] And use it, but they Photoshop. Why would you have to Photoshop Avast Lincoln? Like, it doesn’t make sense, so confusing, but also hilarious.

[01:07:44] Christina: [01:07:44] that is hilarious. And actually my favorite thing about you, Brett, is like that you’re like thinking about like, what in the hell is like, why did they have to

[01:07:52] Brett: [01:07:52] Well, so it was pointed out to me on, uh, on Mastodon. Uh, the only person who noticed it was [01:08:00] on Mastodon and they, they brought the question up. So I can’t, I can’t take credit for being that anal retentive about, uh, about Photoshop grammar, but yeah, I’m still on Mastodon.

[01:08:11] Christina: [01:08:11] I was going to say you’re still a masstone. What server are you on?

[01:08:14] Brett: [01:08:14] Um, I’m on the easy DNS server run by a libertarian that I often agree with and often disagree with, but he he’s, uh, uh, the guy who runs easy DNS is, uh, he, he follows privacy and security stuff puts out our newsletter.

[01:08:32] That’s always informative. Even if his, uh, his opinions don’t always match up with mine.

[01:08:38] Christina: [01:08:38] I like that. Yeah, I’ve I’ve this is the thing that I’m kind of hoping for the next four years is that I can go back into a place where like I can start consuming opinions of people who I don’t agree with, um, in a way what will see me. Cause the thing is, is I don’t want to get, go full hog in that. Cause I do actually [01:09:00] like to.

[01:09:02] Engage in conversations with people that I don’t agree with on things like I like to have other perspectives, but it’s been really difficult for me to have any sort of discourse with like pro Trumpers.

[01:09:17] Brett: [01:09:17] because we’re getting different news. Like people bring up, people bring up. Yeah. But what about, and it’s a story you’ve never even heard and you have no way to fact check what they’re saying. And conversation has become nearly impossible because all the reasons I hate Trump, they’ve never even heard and all the reasons they love Trump, I’ve never even heard.

[01:09:40] So we can’t have a conversation about any particular topic it’s been, it’s been awful. The, uh, the news bubbles have been killing discourse.

[01:09:49] Christina: [01:09:49] Yeah. Uh, we’re we’re super long, but I do have like one last question. Have you talked to your parents, your parents since the election?

[01:09:55] Brett: [01:09:55] uh, I have, we did an amazing job of not talking [01:10:00] about the election at all.

[01:10:02] Christina: [01:10:02] Amazing.

[01:10:02] Brett: [01:10:02] talked about some coronavirus stuff, but even that we keep the Corona virus conversations, apolitical. Like just about the facts and, and vaccines we talk about, but we don’t talk about how Trump is to credit for vaccines and yeah, no, uh, we, we have civil discourse by completely avoiding politics.

[01:10:25] Uh, almost to an extent where it seems impossible. I was in awe of our last Saturday breakfast. We, we, we got through it as if nothing was happening.

[01:10:35]Christina: [01:10:35] Yeah, I, um, I haven’t talked to my parents, uh, since, since everything kind of happened. And, um, I will obviously be talking to them this week for my birthday, but it’s been one of those things where I’ve, I’ve been wanting to more, my dad than anything, I guess, kind of give a break, so to speak where I’m kind of like, I’m like, all right, you know what?

[01:10:59] We don’t, we don’t need to [01:11:00] get into this. Um, like. Uh, I, I, I’m not going to rub this in your face, even though you didn’t have any problem, kind of, he didn’t rub it in my face, but you know, last time, but. Anyway, four years ago when this happened, it, there were some not great conversations. So, uh, I’m, I’m hoping, I’m just kind of wanting to avoid all of that, especially since I can’t see them.

[01:11:25] But, um, yeah. Uh, but I’m, I’m glad, I’m glad to hear that, that, that your parents, uh, like you’ve just been talking about anything but that, and you’ve had good, good conversations. That’s awesome.

[01:11:34] Brett: [01:11:34] the only way. Um, I will say I’m about to send an email to my entire family suggesting maybe this isn’t the Christmas for everyone to get together. Uh, we’ll see how that goes.

[01:11:44] Christina: [01:11:44] Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think that, that, uh, I mean, obviously you have COVID is your number one kind of reason

[01:11:52] Brett: [01:11:52] well, that’s the only reason I love it. When my family all gets together, I have five nieces that I adore and, and look forward to seeing. [01:12:00] But right now with, with higher, highest, yet case counts in every single state

[01:12:09] Christina: [01:12:09] I know

[01:12:10] Brett: [01:12:10] is not the time to be planning. Uh, December Katherine, right? I, we just, my mom just called me this week to say, Oh, this woman that I was counting offering with at the church just got diagnosed.

[01:12:24] Uh, she just got a positive test and I just found out yesterday that my mom was negative, but I’m like, you’re in contact. You can’t keep your family safe. If you’re that close to potential contacts and potential infections, uh, we just need to be responsible and, and not get 15 people in a room.

[01:12:48]Christina: [01:12:48] Yeah.

[01:12:49] Brett: [01:12:49] Anyway, enough about family. This has been fun. Christina, happy birthday.

[01:12:55] Christina: [01:12:55] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Brett. And, uh, I, uh, next, next time, um, I’m [01:13:00] actually going to, it’s going to be fun because I’m going to be able to, um, have, um, I can’t talk. Um, I’m going to have can’t talk next time. And we talk, I will have, I will be the proud owner of an Xbox series X. And so I can talk about that.

[01:13:16] If anybody cares, I’ve ordered two PlayStation vibes, but unfortunately neither of them is for me. So I’m going to be still waiting to try to get my own of that. But it’s it’s video game season. Oh, I’ll also have my new, uh, iPhone. Next time we talk and there will be Apple Silicon max to talk about next time too, if we want to pretend to be a tech show in an, on any capacity.

[01:13:40] Brett: [01:13:40] latter I can talk about, you’re going to be talking to someone who hasn’t owned a gaming system since. Well, I had an Xbox three 60 that I never used, uh, but I haven’t really played an arcade console since the Atari 2,800. So you’ll have to explain to [01:14:00] me why, why I give a shit. It’ll be like our Taylor Swift conversations.

[01:14:03] Christina: [01:14:03] Exactly. Exactly. And, and, um, I will search and see if there has been anyone who’ve made hour long, um, videos about theme parks for Taylor Swift, or, you know, but, but for Xbox and PlayStation,

[01:14:16] Brett: [01:14:16] for, yeah. Yup. Sounds good. I hope you get some, uh, some non Clonopin assisted sleep.

[01:14:23] Christina: [01:14:23] get some sleep, right.