[00:00:00] Speaker A: Learn more about fun local events and interesting people throughout the heart of middle Tennessee, with a dash of everyday tech talk thrown in for good measure. The local click starts now.
[00:00:12] Speaker B: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the local click. This is the January 2024 edition of the Local Click. So, Justin, I'd like to say happy new year to you.
[00:00:23] Speaker C: Happy new year to you as well. It really felt od that you just said 2024.
[00:00:27] Speaker B: I know I had to kind of catch myself and make sure I didn't mess that up and say 23 instead. But it's going to take a little while to write it correctly on all the paper and type it correctly. I'm sure I'll make that mistake for about two months. That's what I normally do.
[00:00:38] Speaker A: It takes about two months for me.
[00:00:40] Speaker B: But anyway, it's hard to believe we're starting a new year. I'm looking forward to a great new year, a great new year in general, and a great new year on this podcast series. It's been fun so far. Speaking of this particular episode, it's going to be more of Justin talking to us with his tech news roundup as well as his tech tips. And we'll have Jared Bradshaw back with ask the experts where he shares some great tips of things that he runs into in the field while he's doing repair work for DTC. And it might save you quite a bit of heartache and trouble with some of your own technology in your home. We've got a couple of great interviews coming up today. We've got Bert driver from Smithville, Tennessee, who's into all sorts of things. Bert is a very resourceful guy. He's got several businesses we'll talk to him about, but we're going to start today with our interview with Debbie and Greg with BB's Bistro. So thanks for joining us on the first episode of 2024. For the local clip, I have Debbie and Greg pilot with BB's Bistro in Gordonsville. Hello and thank you for joining us today.
[00:01:43] Speaker D: Thank you for having us.
[00:01:44] Speaker B: So tell me a little bit background about both of yourselves, if you will.
[00:01:48] Speaker E: I'm from Smith County. I taught school here. I retired from the school system in 2015 as a supervisor and thought I had fully retired until we opened a restaurant this past year.
[00:02:03] Speaker B: That's always one of those fun moments in time when you think you're calling it, calling it a wrap, so to speak, and then you go, wait, no, I'm not. There's nothing wrong with that.
[00:02:12] Speaker E: Going to add something to my life.
[00:02:13] Speaker B: A lot of people do that. What about you, Greg.
[00:02:16] Speaker D: From Memphis originally and then moved to Florida for a number of years, 1213 years. And we met and got married ten years ago. And so I have been from Smith county since then. And love it. Love every day of it.
[00:02:29] Speaker B: Awesome. I'm a big Memphis fan, so I always like to hear when someone says they come from Memphis. Of course, I'm a musician and I love the heritage, that part of great music. Great. Of course, anyone that likes Elvis knows all that story and Graceland and that sort of thing, and sun records and all that sort of thing. Did you find a lot of entertainment value kind of being there so close to go visit those kind of places? A lot.
[00:02:54] Speaker D: We owned the largest music store chain in Memphis for 20 years.
[00:02:59] Speaker B: Oh, wow.
[00:02:59] Speaker D: In fact, one of our customers was Elvis. He bought all his pianos from us. So the piano that right now probably my one claim to fame, I sold him his last piano and it was only $8,000 and it just appraised for well over 6 million.
[00:03:17] Speaker B: Oh my goodness.
[00:03:18] Speaker D: See what happens if you buy piano for me?
[00:03:20] Speaker B: The poultry sum of 6 million. Yeah.
Wow. Now that's an interesting story. You don't hear something like that every day. That's really cool.
[00:03:27] Speaker D: Pilot music center is where he bought all his pianists.
[00:03:30] Speaker B: Wow. Well, there you go. Yeah, I bet he's got a lot of stories, doesn't he, from his. He does years in Memphis.
[00:03:36] Speaker E: He does.
[00:03:36] Speaker B: That's awesome. That's awesome. So tell us about your restaurant, the name of it and the location and that sort of thing.
[00:03:43] Speaker D: Start off with history. You know, the history as a restaurant name from OJ's.
[00:03:47] Speaker E: And that's when my son worked there, when he worked when he was twelve years old. So that's how I know the restaurant from the beginning.
[00:03:54] Speaker B: Okay. I've never even heard that name before. Okay.
[00:03:57] Speaker E: It's a minister. Brother woods, he had the restaurant and it was a community place everyone loved to go and that's where they would go and visit and that's what I wanted, that type of atmosphere. And then had different ownerships and then I think the last one was cornerstone is how people remember it some. And now it's BB's.
[00:04:19] Speaker D: BB's very interesting name. We had a very short time to figure it out and all the grandkids call her BB.
[00:04:28] Speaker B: Okay, well, that was going to be one of my questions. I was kind of curious where that name came from.
[00:04:34] Speaker D: Christmas time, when they're running around the house, all you hear is bb, I need this bb, I need that.
So BB's bistro just sounded like it fit.
[00:04:43] Speaker B: I love that. Like, I've always heard people say, I don't care what they call me, just call me. Right.
[00:04:48] Speaker E: Call me. So that's what they call me, is BB.
[00:04:50] Speaker B: Well, that's awesome. Now, did you, either of you have, like, a restaurant background at all, or just kind of thought it'd be.
[00:04:57] Speaker D: We eat a lot.
[00:04:59] Speaker B: I guess that's sort of my restaurant background.
[00:05:02] Speaker D: We're sort of experts at that part of it.
[00:05:05] Speaker B: I understand.
[00:05:06] Speaker D: I've always wanted to do that. I've lived in Europe for a long time. Just love good cuisine and also think that a meat in three is just something that every community needs.
[00:05:18] Speaker B: I agree with that. There's something. It's more than food, really. It's almost a comfort setting. A lot of times it is a.
[00:05:24] Speaker E: Comfort setting, and everything's homemade there.
[00:05:27] Speaker B: I guess you purchased the restaurant from Cornerstone and started it under Bibi's name there. Now, did you? There's. I want to put my own touch on it, but there's also some things I want to carry over or how do you determine that? Because I'm sure there's some locals that probably had that certain thing they wanted to continue to.
[00:05:44] Speaker D: Exactly.
It probably was known more for pizzas, and they kind of had a tradition in recipes of pizzas that goes all the way back for 30 years or more.
[00:05:57] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:57] Speaker E: Came from Roy Carver in carthage.
[00:06:00] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:06:00] Speaker D: And they had their own sauce that they make. So there was a lot of tradition that we didn't want to see that tradition leave of the pizza. It's got two separate kitchens, so the pizza kitchen just stayed like it is. And we tried to maintain the same recipes, but we wanted to be able to add that home flavor, the meat, and three and some specialties. That was not a part of the history, and so we put our own touch with that aspect of the business.
[00:06:34] Speaker B: Yeah, I love that. I like it when things change, and that's inevitable in life. Right. But not all changes are bad. A lot of them are good. But at the same time, you pay homage to the past and the things that people still enjoy, the certain little touches, you know what I mean?
[00:06:48] Speaker A: History.
[00:06:49] Speaker B: Yeah. And there's a lot of history that's been made around a pizza or two there.
[00:06:53] Speaker D: I bet there has.
[00:06:55] Speaker E: I'm sure there has.
[00:06:56] Speaker B: Talk about some of the other new menu items, I guess, that you guys decided to bring in when you wanted to put your touch on it.
[00:07:05] Speaker D: I'll go to the things that are so popular is, number one, catfish.
We had our own even recipes with things like breading and things we do were pretty particular, not only with the quality of the food coming in, but the way we then prepare it. So catfish is very good, and that seems to be a real popular thing.
We make a hamburger that's hard to beat, and it's a real hamburger. It fills up a big bun, plus some.
[00:07:41] Speaker E: It's padded out there.
It's not purchased already.
[00:07:44] Speaker D: Right.
[00:07:45] Speaker E: Prepackaged.
[00:07:46] Speaker D: It's all fresh, the best chuck, and it's a good hamburger. So we did what we call our burger bar, give a lot of options with that, and that's become a big seller for.
[00:08:00] Speaker B: That's a neat idea. Tell me about that a little bit.
[00:08:02] Speaker D: Well, we were writing it up, and we talked about five guys, how they do, and so we ended up calling our burger bar five gals, because, trust me, the gals run the entire place.
And so with that, we give just lots of different options, probably 20 different things you could put on your burger, as well as things like homemade onion rings that sometimes people love to have those on a burger. We just have all kinds of variety. That's interesting for the burger bar and.
[00:08:36] Speaker E: Many people, which was surprising to me, I've never had. But they want a fried egg on the burger.
[00:08:41] Speaker B: Yeah, I've heard of people doing that. I've never tried that. But a lot of people say it's great.
[00:08:45] Speaker D: They like it very european.
[00:08:48] Speaker B: Yeah, that's true. That's true. What I like about it is there's so many different options by the time you get through with it, if you don't enjoy, it's got to be your own fault because you didn't decorate it the right way. Right?
[00:09:00] Speaker A: Exactly right.
[00:09:02] Speaker B: I love that. What about breakfast? Do you guys have a breakfast menu also?
[00:09:05] Speaker E: We have a wonderful breakfast menu. We have that six days a week. No, five days a week. Excuse me. Tuesday through Saturday. And we have breakfast burritos. We have fried eggs, we have omelets, we have hash browns, fried potatoes, sausage, bacon, biscuits.
[00:09:22] Speaker D: Don't forget the gravy.
[00:09:23] Speaker E: Oh, and I don't eat gravy, so. Yeah, we have gravy.
[00:09:26] Speaker B: But in the south, people there do get the gravy. That's exactly right.
[00:09:28] Speaker D: Put gravy on everything.
[00:09:29] Speaker B: Yeah, it makes everything. But even dessert. Put gravy.
[00:09:32] Speaker D: Gravy and bacon.
[00:09:34] Speaker E: Oh, and we have pancakes. Yes. So we have a wonderful breakfast. Saturday mornings particularly, are full, but we have many regulars in the mornings for breakfast. And I guess it's a better kept secret. Some people found us from we want.
[00:09:49] Speaker D: To keep it from being a secret.
[00:09:51] Speaker E: Yeah.
[00:09:52] Speaker B: That's awesome. I like the idea of the breakfast burrito option, too, because you don't get that a lot of restaurants, you might get it in a fast food chain around here, but to be able to sit down and have a really homemade breakfast burrito with all that in it is so hearty.
[00:10:08] Speaker D: That's probably one of the biggest items as far as the amount of food. And we custom the meat in it, the eggs, the potatoes, if they want all kinds of things that they can put in their burrito. And it is tasty and hearty.
[00:10:22] Speaker B: Oh, I bet you'll be full when you leave, right?
[00:10:24] Speaker D: Oh, absolutely.
[00:10:26] Speaker B: What would you say are some of the customer favorites? I guess the current ones. I know you've probably hit on some of those already, but what's probably maybe the top two or three most popular.
[00:10:33] Speaker D: Items for breakfast or other ones? How about both? Breakfast, I tell you, we have people that come in every morning for pancakes, so they love their pancakes. And bacon.
[00:10:43] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:10:44] Speaker D: So that's very popular for lunch and dinner, you would have to say probably meet and three is one of the most popular.
[00:10:56] Speaker E: And a lot of the ladies will call from the different offices and they'll want grilled chicken or fried chicken salads or we have salmon salads.
[00:11:05] Speaker B: So how do you decide what's going to be on the meat and three in any particular day? Does that rotate what that selection is?
[00:11:11] Speaker D: We're pretty consistent. We may add one or two things on special days. Catfish is big on Friday and Saturday with all you can eat.
We do something like meatloaf on Thursday. But overall, there are about ten different meats on the meat, three that are there every day.
[00:11:30] Speaker B: Awesome. Wow. That's a lot of selection.
[00:11:32] Speaker D: Big variety desserts.
[00:11:33] Speaker B: Do you guys have a dessert menu?
[00:11:35] Speaker E: Yes, Vonda and Sydney, different ones to help with the desserts.
Everything's homemade.
We add a couple of different things on the weekends, like carrot cake or banana pudding.
[00:11:48] Speaker B: Oh, wow.
[00:11:49] Speaker E: Or red velvet or something of that.
[00:11:51] Speaker A: She adds cheesecake.
[00:11:52] Speaker E: Oh, we have cheesecake all the time. Homemade cheesecake. And pies, caramel pies, pecan pies, buttermilk pies.
[00:11:59] Speaker D: This time of year, we cobblers, too, because cobblers become more asked for during the winter. And so homemade cobblers, which are very popular.
[00:12:11] Speaker B: Well, I'm going to ask you both this particular question just as an insight to kind of what your tastes are personally. So, Greg, if you're sitting down for a meal there at your own place, what are you going to order?
[00:12:24] Speaker D: The two things I love. One is the steaks. We have some great steaks. And being from Memphis, we brought some barbecue dishes that are very popular in Memphis. One is barbecue shrimp. Now, it sounds what you have when it comes out is totally different than probably what you would picture, but it is magnificent.
[00:12:47] Speaker B: That sounds awesome. I want to try that. Did you bring some with you?
[00:12:51] Speaker D: No, I ate it on the way I meant to.
[00:12:54] Speaker B: I guess I've got a good excuse to come over now. What about you, Davy? What would you sit down and have a meal with if you were going to eat today?
[00:13:01] Speaker D: A salad with no cheese.
[00:13:04] Speaker B: Well, and that's okay.
[00:13:05] Speaker E: He laughs at me because I'm boring on food, but if I'm going to order something to take home for the weekend, I order the bone in wings. We have the best buffalo wings.
[00:13:15] Speaker B: That's nice.
[00:13:15] Speaker D: And that's another one that people love. And we have two or three different sauces on the wings. And we do the Nashville hot and buffalo and more traditional. But the wings are really outstanding.
[00:13:31] Speaker B: What do you think is the difference between running a restaurant in a small town versus a big city? Do you think the atmosphere is different?
[00:13:39] Speaker E: I know at our place I've had several people to tell me the food's wonderful, but I love to come here and see people and talk to people. And on any given time, I know about 50% because of the school system. Me teaching school for so long. And that's good. I either had them in school or had their kids in school.
[00:13:59] Speaker B: And I was going to say, I bet that's interesting when you have a previous student that comes in that you haven't seen them for a long time and they come down to have a meal. But that's kind of neat, isn't it? Isn't it?
[00:14:07] Speaker E: To see them again and different directors. Even your school director from here, he and his wife, whether retired, but for when I was in the school system, they come and eat and just people I've worked with, so that's always nice.
[00:14:18] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:14:19] Speaker D: And I think, too, in a small town you have to be able to offer more things because there's not as much variety as in a big city. You can have so many specialties where someone just makes sushi or just makes catfish or whatever. But I think in a small town it's important to give people variety where they can come and enjoy different types of items and come more regularly.
[00:14:46] Speaker B: Catering now, do you guys offer catering services?
[00:14:49] Speaker D: Cater, we do. That has become more and more part of our business, really. When we started, it was offered, but not. It wasn't, of course, the past owner had just gone through Covid, which really changed a lot of things. It got people out of the habit of catering. But fortunately, Covid was over once we got into it. And so we've really pushed the catering and people love it.
[00:15:20] Speaker B: I think I saw like a microphone stand and a few speakers sitting in there, and I talked to my coworker. I said, I bet you they must have some musicians that pop in from time to time. Is that something you do for entertainment there?
[00:15:32] Speaker D: Terry Lynn Weaver comes every Friday and we have a big event on Friday nights. We want to expand that. And so we're working to look to bring people in from Nashville on, say, Saturdays. But for right now, we started with the tradition of Terry Lyn, and she's a big favorite.
[00:15:51] Speaker E: We have some regular customers, some gentlemen that come eat probably, I don't know, eight times a week, and they sing in Nashville. So we're going to try to get.
[00:16:03] Speaker B: It fixed, recruit there, have a great meal on a Friday night, or know, and then have the entertainment aspect to it. How does technology affect the way that you run your business and what kind of technology do you use to make your business run a little smoother?
[00:16:16] Speaker E: We'll start using more, but at the moment, mostly how I use it is for people calling in where they can pay online. We can keep up with inventory through the technology. We can keep up with people's hours. Like if I'm out of town, I can still go online and do payroll and anything like that.
[00:16:38] Speaker D: Thanks to DTC, we have cameras to where I can look in when I'm at my other office and be able to see the kitchen, everything, the cash register room. And I think another thing that at the very beginning people were not so sure about, but we could take orders on an electronic device, take the credit cards, the person not have to leave the table pay.
[00:17:06] Speaker B: That's convenient.
[00:17:07] Speaker D: And it goes right from the handheld to the kitchen. If it's a pizza, it goes to the pizza.
[00:17:15] Speaker B: Okay. So there's no paper trail that you have to walk that order over.
[00:17:19] Speaker D: All it's electronic.
[00:17:20] Speaker B: Well, thank you so much for being with me today. I've really learned a lot about your menu and your restaurant. I'm excited to go back and visit again. I've been there, but I need to go back and make excuse. Maybe if when you have some music on a Friday night, I need to stop by because I like that.
[00:17:35] Speaker D: And get some good barbecue shrimp.
[00:17:36] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Hey, I like it. I'm all about shrimp. And barbecue, put them together. That sounds like a win win. In my is tell everybody if they want to learn more about you and your hours and your specials and menu items and stuff like that. Where should they go? Is it Facebook?
[00:17:50] Speaker E: Right now it's Facebook. We're working on our website, but the Facebook has the better information. We're open Tuesdays through Saturdays, eight until seven, Tuesday and Thursday.
[00:18:06] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:18:07] Speaker E: On Wednesdays we close early and people ask me why.
Customer asked me why the other day and he said, well, then I'm proud of you. I said, all these kids that work for me, they go to church and they leave here at 630. So what's not cleaned at 630 I have to do.
So we close at six so they could go to church.
So that works on Wednesdays. But people are used to it closing early. They'll call for to Gos or something. And then Fridays when Terry Lyn's there, we stay open till 08:00 I'm really.
[00:18:37] Speaker B: Excited to see what you guys are doing with the place and how you put your own stamp on it and yet still bring the tradition along for the ride. I have a lot of respect for the way you guys do your business, wish you all the best and everything. And we'll be by very soon to share a meal with you guys.
[00:18:54] Speaker E: I hope so.
[00:18:55] Speaker B: All right. Thanks for joining us. We'll be back with more of the local click coming up after this.
[00:19:01] Speaker A: Here's normal Internet speed. Here's the gig difference.
Average speed gig not enough speed. Gig speed with gig Internet from DTC, everything's different. Video streaming is a breeze. Music and photos fly. And gaming gets real with no data limits. That's the gig difference. Call or visit DTC online and get your gig today.
[00:19:35] Speaker B: Welcome back to the local click. Justin Malden's with me for this segment to start us off and he's going to help us with his tech tips. So, Justin, what do you have for us this month?
[00:19:45] Speaker C: So if you were to check your phone right now, how many notifications do you think you'd have?
[00:19:50] Speaker B: Several, because it's on do not disturb and I've been ignoring it.
[00:19:55] Speaker C: Think about this. In the constantly connected digital world that we live in, think about emails, text, phone calls, social media notifications, going through, scrolling, watching those videos. It all seems pretty endless, doesn't it?
[00:20:09] Speaker B: It never ends.
[00:20:10] Speaker C: It never ends, right? I mean, it's almost like we are connected and wired to our devices. And I make the joke with family members of mine and I'm like, that phone is attached to your hand.
How do you get rid of it? Because it's almost like it's one and the same. It is just a part of your body, and there's pros and cons to that. Technology is a great thing, but a downside to it is sometimes that can lead to some burnout. Sometimes it can lead to some emotional stress, right. And increased stress on us. And sometimes it's just a good idea to step back and say, you know what? I need to unplug and unwind. And so that's what we're going to talk about a little bit. We're going to talk about a simple thing. But take detox, something that we all can do, something that maybe we all need to consider to do in the highly connected world that we're in. I mean, we're all about technology. We love technology. We love to talk about it. We use it. You and I use it in our everyday of our professional lives. We use it in our personal lives, and most people do. But sometimes there's an overabundance of that. A tech detox, nothing complicated about it. I mean, simple. It's just, hey, let me step back and take a break from technology. And it's pretty easy to get started, right? I mean, you just step back and set some realistic goals and say, hey, what are some things that I can do without something that I've done in the past is when I get home, I have a spot that I set my phone down on and it stays there and I will let it sit there at least for an hour, and I'm not going to pay attention to it. Try not to go to it and run toward it and go. And maybe I spend some time with my kids. Maybe we go out in the yard and play or we take the dog for a walk or we do something. We make intentional use of that time, right? We're present in that moment for other things that are going on. And so that's as simple as what it. And today, whether you're an Android user or you're an Apple user, Google has digital well being. Apple has screen time. And so they've got things to help you limit your notifications, to limit the amount of time that you're using devices, to even have downtime, to say, hey, to let you set it and then remind you, hey, you said you weren't going to be using this. Or, hey, you've already used this too much. Why don't you take a break? And really what a tech detox is, is it's thinking about how to have a healthier relationship with technology. It's not about ending the relationship. It's not about completely getting rid of technology. It's about doing it in a manner that just helps you have a healthier way to interact with doing things. And honestly, I think if people would take a step back and analyze this and look at this, if you implemented some of those practices, you'd probably be more refreshed, right. You'd have a little bit more time to do things. Your focus is probably going to improve because you're being more intentional about things. And really, you're going to have a balanced approach to things a little bit overall, and it helps you be in control instead of allowing your device to be in control.
[00:23:08] Speaker B: I think it's good, too, for the younger generation, especially kids. I mean, it's just not healthy. I think, generally speaking, to sit there on a phone or a tablet all day long.
[00:23:18] Speaker C: No. And you think of dynamics.
Even when I was younger, and I'm still a millennial, and so most people would be like, well, you're still young. Growing up, I didn't have technology the way that even my kids have access to technology and have access to screens and have access to communication and information at the touch of a button. And so I remember those days of, oh, if I wanted to go do something with the neighborhood kids, we had to actually go do something. There was no, hey, we're going to hop on and do this through a game, or we're going to do this through an app, right? If we wanted to communicate, I remember having a walkie talkie with one of the neighbors. So that's how we communicated and that's how we did things.
[00:24:00] Speaker B: Yeah, I miss the old days sometimes. I love technology, and I know this is a technology based podcast, but I have to say, sometimes life just gets so busy.
I do miss the old days, so to speak. Not to sound nostalgic or older than I am, but there's just something to be said for taking a deep breath sometimes and just taking a step back and just enjoying life without a screen.
[00:24:23] Speaker C: Slow it down, unplug, unwind, and it can do you some great benefit.
[00:24:27] Speaker B: I like it. Thanks, Justin. That's a good one.
For this segment, I am lucky to have with me Mr. Bert Driver. Bert, thank you for coming over and visiting us today.
[00:24:37] Speaker A: Good morning and Buenos Diaz.
[00:24:39] Speaker B: I appreciate it very, very much.
[00:24:40] Speaker A: Thanks for having us.
[00:24:41] Speaker B: And Bert and I, we've worked together on some events in the past. We had a lot of fun, especially the songwriters competition that you had at.
[00:24:49] Speaker A: The Harvester can you believe that was this year?
[00:24:51] Speaker B: It's hard to believe.
[00:24:51] Speaker A: Do the math.
[00:24:52] Speaker B: Well, technically, this will be airing in 2024.
[00:24:55] Speaker A: Awesome. Almost a year out. That was Groundhog's day.
[00:24:58] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. That's a good way to remember it.
[00:25:00] Speaker A: Yes. It keeps repeating.
[00:25:01] Speaker B: You did such a good job, by the way. Your organizational skills have to be off the charts to keep up with all those moving pieces.
[00:25:08] Speaker A: It is a lot of moving parts across the spectrum. And what it is, it's the people that I work with that follow that lead. So I'm blessed in that regard.
[00:25:16] Speaker B: Surround yourself with good people. Makes it a lot easier.
[00:25:19] Speaker A: I can't brag on them all enough because that was including yourself and the professionalism and the equipment and the space. That's what's so cool about where we live, that we've got resources.
[00:25:30] Speaker B: That was awesome. We had a good time. We appreciate you having us for it.
[00:25:33] Speaker A: Well, thanks for having me over.
[00:25:34] Speaker B: And tell us a little bit about your background, just generically speaking, how you got where you are today. I know you're in several different businesses and types of businesses and that sort of thing. I think a lot of people will find that interesting to find out kind of where you started and how you got to where you are.
[00:25:50] Speaker A: DeKalb county, you're from Decab as well, and grew up there. And I have children. You've raised family. We're all trying to go through that. So I'm stumbling around a little bit, trying to get back to the date going almost 200 years back. Started with some drivers that moved into the area. Noaks family has been around for a long time, too. You can tick off how many family names around the county that go to the graveyards, and it's circus, 1790, 1918, from 200 years. So that really is the core of who I am. Smithville de Cab County, Tennessee. I'm the most proud of that community. And a lot of pride and a lot of passion comes from our family and our involvement with not only the tree industry, but music and politics and religion and all the way back.
[00:26:40] Speaker B: There's a lot of history and the jamboree.
[00:26:42] Speaker A: The Jamboree. That's a beautiful product.
[00:26:44] Speaker B: Just spoke with Kim recently. Kim driver, looting is everywhere. Yeah.
[00:26:48] Speaker A: Lord have mercy. She's a busy woman. So growing up in that environment, on a nursery in the southern part of DeKalb county with a lot of roots that run way back through that.
If I've spoken to my children about it now, they've off to college and what they've done and how they perform and even my own journey in education.
When I got to center college up in Damble, Kentucky, I really wanted to play d three football and didn't think I'd ever come back to Smithville at the age of 18.
So great school. I still have some compatriots that I talked to yesterday that are from those college days.
But when I arrived, it was pretty intimidating. It's a good academic school, you have to show up. There's an average about twelve people in a classroom and they'd usually put you in a circle or a semicircle. Yeah, it was fill up the blue book man.
There was no multiple choice, so I felt a little lost in that. But I had some really strong english skills because why people like Hill, Tommy Webb, Jackie Smith was 7th, 8th grade. Teaching those english skills and communication skills saved me and that's what got me through that first year of college.
[00:28:00] Speaker B: I believe that I've talked to so many previous students who had some of those same teachers you just mentioned, and I'll be a witness to that fact. When I went to college it was easier because I was already so prepared during high school. Yes. Do you agree with that statement?
[00:28:16] Speaker A: 100%. I know that it's intimidating. It's tough when you make a transition and make that jump, but I have enough confidence in that. And I guess the thing about Smithville and Decab and what I'm telling about my family history and being established, that gave me the confidence and the identity. Growing up in a small town gave me identity. And that's the one thing that I took with me wherever I traveled. I could relate to that. So I was prepared for life as best as I could.
I really, as I said earlier, I wasn't even sure I'd come back to Smithfield, DeKalb county. But as I got out of college and traveled and I lived in Europe for a while, I lived out west for a while, went to school in London for a while.
I probed the earth and finally decided to come back into Smithville and try out the nursery business I had grown up with.
[00:29:04] Speaker B: Did you think you'd be in the nursery business when you were younger? No.
[00:29:06] Speaker A: At 18 I'll never be in the nursery business. I'm not coming back to Smithville. I was ready to move on, right? And I did. I got in position, worked hard to get in position to travel and meet some people and live in other places. I think that's good for all of us, really, because you realize how special it really is. And the timing was fantastic. My dad was trying to maneuver and not be fully in the business any further. And I had that intensive year almost like grad school.
[00:29:33] Speaker C: Right?
[00:29:34] Speaker B: Did he?
[00:29:35] Speaker A: Cab County Drive in movie theater came for sale. It had been sitting there for about a year and a half and I was barely 25.
I owned a jeep Cherokee.
[00:29:45] Speaker B: That's all I had.
[00:29:46] Speaker A: And luckily with some family connections, we wound up purchasing the property. I got lucky on that. I lived in that building for about a year.
[00:29:54] Speaker B: Really?
[00:29:55] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:29:55] Speaker B: I didn't know that. Wow. Yeah. That's cool.
[00:29:57] Speaker A: I've been there a long time. It's been 1997 when we opened.
[00:30:01] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:30:02] Speaker A: So that time period of being a senior in high school to about the age of 25, I had finally come back to Smithville, dug in, literally to rehab that building, which was built in 1956. I have an affinity for older properties.
It's been a blessing that I never realized would be such as grand as it is. And the thing about meeting the people, even through the nursery industry and being on that highway and expanding into a beer garden, live music establishment, that's been the most blessing. Yes, we all are capitalist. I describe myself as a redneck hippie.
[00:30:39] Speaker B: Capitalist and we're just a little bit of education. Yeah.
[00:30:43] Speaker A: So it is about the money. We do follow the money, but we can be in that quote unquote hippie vein, but be capitalist as well. There's a way to do that. You can live from the earth and about the earth and the water. That's the key to the whole thing. In Smithfield, de Cabb county, this region, we're blessed creeks, rivers, name it.
[00:31:02] Speaker B: You don't think about it a lot. You take it for granted, but it's true.
[00:31:05] Speaker A: Do man. And without that, the nursery industry wouldn't have existed as it does today. It's over a billion dollar industry in Tennessee and those are primarily right here in Decad Warren county as the beef of that industry. So what a history. And as I have aged a little bit and moved on down the line through the nursery industry and watched it and dealt with mother Nature and all the changes that have happened, I'm privileged. I am really privileged. We planted a crop the day after Thanksgiving this year. Those techniques with a tobacco setter has not changed in 100 years. And if you look at anything on social media that we do across the spectrum, the nursery is the least visited out of all of them. Just the trends, right? Yet it's been here the longest and without it, none of this would have happened. I probably wouldn't be sitting with you.
[00:31:56] Speaker B: It opened up a lot of doors did it. It did. And people.
[00:31:59] Speaker A: That's back to the other thing, man. Just the wealth and the other privilege is to be with people that tell these great stories, and I get to hear them all walks of life.
[00:32:09] Speaker B: That's awesome.
[00:32:10] Speaker A: It really, over the years, transcended into, I did get married. I did have children. I raised them up in the nursery around that great lifestyle choice for them. And it gave me flexibility to be at the ball games. And as an independent business person, we do work a lot of hours.
[00:32:25] Speaker B: Yeah, that's true.
[00:32:25] Speaker A: But we also get to take off and we spend that time with our family and our friends, or we like to travel. So I guess I'm trying to describe a lifestyle choice that I didn't even know I was making at that age. So we fast forward now from 97 to now here, going into 2024. We've been over 25 years. I don't know what happened.
[00:32:46] Speaker B: I don't know. You blink and it's a blur.
[00:32:48] Speaker A: Yeah, a blur.
So the property location, Smithville, highway 70, that corridor has been popular for how long?
[00:32:58] Speaker B: Long time.
[00:32:59] Speaker A: They promoted that a long time ago. Even in the upper Cumberland. Playland was one of the.
[00:33:06] Speaker B: Oh, really?
[00:33:07] Speaker A: One of the tag logans that I saw even from the days of Bobo driver and Henry Clarence Redmond, who was also a grandfather with cany fork when there was no electricity.
[00:33:16] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:33:17] Speaker A: So a family tradition of being passionate about the area and really trying to help people.
[00:33:23] Speaker B: Now, how did you get into. That's a pretty big transition to go from the nursery business into the Entertainment business? I don't even know how you connect them, but somehow you had the vision, I guess, if you will. I guess the burlap room kind of made that first jump, did it? From the nursery side to entertainment.
[00:33:41] Speaker A: And in the nursery world, I love music.
You love music. We grew up with music. We have all kinds of outlets. And of course, it was easy to run down Starwood.
[00:33:52] Speaker B: Yeah, that's true.
[00:33:53] Speaker A: Back in the.
[00:33:53] Speaker B: I remember the day.
[00:33:55] Speaker A: Easy to go into downtown Nashville, even. Of course, back then are like, stay off of Second Avenue, lower broad. Mom would be like, man, don't go down there. Well, where were we going to? Municipal auditorium.
[00:34:05] Speaker B: Right.
[00:34:05] Speaker A: For those of you all listening, you know what I'm talking about.
[00:34:07] Speaker B: Yeah. Memories.
[00:34:08] Speaker A: It wasn't hard to run down there. That's the point. And now it's stressful. It is just the volume that comes up on that. And I got tagged for some parking in, like, 2017 down there at San amphitheater. And I'm like, that's it. It really bothered me.
[00:34:25] Speaker B: Something your brain clicked at that. I just had to accept it.
[00:34:28] Speaker A: I accepted the day I quit playing football, for example. It's a little bittersweet. I've had a great career and I'm like, this is probably the last game I get to play. And you start to. As you age and each chapter changes. Not bad. Yeah, these are all good things.
[00:34:42] Speaker B: It's just something.
[00:34:43] Speaker A: Recognize what happens and it changes. So that became the motivation for the music.
And in 2012, in actuality, we started the Earth Day festival event as a gift to our customers into the community. There's no charge, free music. We really tried to promote anything local, even back then.
[00:35:02] Speaker B: I don't know of anyone that has probably a better, just naturally gifted marketing mind when it comes to promoting an idea is you that's from this area.
[00:35:12] Speaker A: And I mean, that great compliment.
[00:35:16] Speaker B: You just seem to get it, you know what I mean? It's like sometimes people have an idea and they think if you build it, they will come. But in business, that's really not how it normally works. And you just seem to always understand the importance of promoting yourself and marketing your businesses in an event to get the word out there to make it successful.
[00:35:36] Speaker A: Yes. I worshiped at the foot of the master Jimmy driver.
[00:35:40] Speaker B: There you go.
[00:35:41] Speaker A: Could sell it to anybody and every time. And I remember combs and fly swats and things. He'd go to trade shows and he knew how to do it. He'd leave his footprint behind somehow. There you go, watching that happen. And with his father, Bobo driver, idea man, and Henry Kranz Redmond, that's on my mom's side. HC Redmond, idea people, they were of technology. They embraced it. The depression era, to CCC camp, to creations of things like the Jamboree and Joe O. Evans, and they want to show off what we can do. I'm carrying on that legacy, right?
[00:36:16] Speaker B: We do a great job.
[00:36:17] Speaker A: They built the courthouse. They wanted the Jamboree coming. They were all about the dam and power and electricity and phones, forty s and fifty s. Look at the explosion of DTC and even gas company. And we've springboard and we have sprung into what we are now, which is very slick and modern, just like DTC.
[00:36:37] Speaker B: Now, how did you go from that into the harvester where we were just talking about the songwriters event happened? But when you walk into the way you guys have designed and decorated and just the atmosphere that you've created in that space and that building that's been there for so long, but you walk in. And it's like you're in another world almost. Now, what made you go down that road and do that kind of project? And what was your grand vision?
[00:37:01] Speaker A: I guess when you started that, doors kept opening. Doors, Nick. I mean, you have to have faith to let some of this happen, because you can't control it. You have to gamble and you got.
[00:37:12] Speaker B: To take a chance.
[00:37:12] Speaker A: It's a big chance. And if you're in a nursery business, you're gambling every day. You don't have to go to Vegas.
[00:37:17] Speaker B: Because you don't have control over the weather.
[00:37:18] Speaker A: No, Mother Nature is running that deal. The burlap room has been great and fun, and I went back and reviewed it just a few days ago. I'm trying to recap the past six years of this. We've done 112 shows there.
[00:37:30] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:37:31] Speaker A: 112 in six years. Some of those are private events, some of those are ticketed events, but quality. So it's mind blowing. And in 21 months, we've done 59 events at the Harvester, including the songwriter event. 59. So my staff, that's a lot. Our staff, my team, our team. Between both properties, including the nursery employees who help us physically move and shift, we gutted that building ourselves.
Local talent, local design welders, woodworkers. And I resourced everything that I could within right here in this radius. I was motivated to not drive anywhere.
[00:38:08] Speaker B: That's really what it boils down.
[00:38:10] Speaker A: Bottom line, man, I want accessibility, which we all do. And downtown Smithville has always been charming, and it's walkable, but you see it kind of moving back that way and has been since about 2017. That trend, when we bought it, it's changed a lot. You can see it, it's convenient. Got about 1000 new people that live on this water from Colorado and DC and New York. And they have expectations, and they're not all retired. There's a lot of 30 year olds living here full time. So sensing that energy and sensing that shift, and also being motivated not to drive very much, we bought the building and had a great designer show up.
It was very strenuous to get it done during the pandemic. Unexpected things that we had no idea we were already in the project. There was no stopping. So good lord willing, we somehow got it up in March of 2022. And I'm thrilled about it because it's two blocks from my house. That's how. That's how it happened. So the experience and the music and dealing with entertainment and just learning it, we messed up a lot of things. We learned a lot of things. And along the way, we took that experience and moved it over to quality entertainment at the harvester.
[00:39:21] Speaker B: Where do you see the harvester going? I guess in the future. Because with that kind of building and setup in your arsenal, it could be so many different things and be successful at any of them.
[00:39:33] Speaker A: Honestly, really wide open.
[00:39:35] Speaker B: What's your vision for? I know it's not been open that long yet, but where do you see it going? I guess in the future, where would you like to see it go?
[00:39:42] Speaker A: Well, we are business people and we're landlords, so that building and its design was meant to be flexible. It's not pigeonholed in any one thing.
We've hosted the Nashville Shakespeare company, multiple comedy shows. We've even had church services, had an ash Wednesday service, and then we do live ticketed shows. That's been fantastic because it's helped us figure out the building. It's taken us about 18 months to.
[00:40:09] Speaker B: Figure where stretches, limitations. That's right.
[00:40:11] Speaker A: How does this work? Can we maneuver this? We've bought the building next to it, at the Casablanca building to get a get ready suite. So to be in the game of weddings and hosting high quality services of any kind, you've got to have those facilities and amenities. It's a very competitive market. How many wedding venues have popped up in the past five years?
[00:40:30] Speaker B: Right.
[00:40:30] Speaker A: All over within 30 miles of here? Yeah, we're a little different. It's a mid century modern building. It's completely enclosed. It's got every modern amenity. We are fire rated for almost 500 people. We're compliant.
[00:40:42] Speaker B: That'd be a beautiful place to have a wedding. The way you guys have designed it, it would really lend itself to that purpose very well and be a very easy transition to do those kinds of things.
[00:40:51] Speaker A: Indeed. It's a lot of natural light. The roll up doors, the chandeliers. It's got history. It's got mid century, but it's modern, meaning there's a full gig of bandwidth provided by our local provider. I think it's called DTC.
[00:41:03] Speaker B: I think I've heard of that.
[00:41:04] Speaker A: I think they're our provider and they also provide our security and the cameras and everything else. And I'll tell you how convenient it is. As a business owner with a venue, I can look right here and handle everything with my device. So that is a blessing to think where we are in rural America with every amenity that we want. So when we're talking to potential brides from the area, they can also make Smithville a destination. How many properties are there to rent on that lake.
[00:41:31] Speaker B: That's true.
[00:41:32] Speaker A: You don't have to go to Franklin, Murphysboro and Nashville. Nothing wrong with those cities, right? Check my price point. You'll be happy about it when you compare what you have. And to your point, what we did is try to take a little bit of Nashville vibe at the old Noel Hotel, which was built in the 1920s, and take that stylistically to our own touch. So there's a 40 foot walnut bar built by a local artist, Koinga William Kwenga, and his son. Beautiful bar top. And it's not just a bar. So that's where we are in this journey of the harvester, to let everybody know, to demonstrate over 59 events how flexible it is, particularly for weddings. The front room, the back room, the yellow dog lounge, the roll up doors, the chandeliers. We own our own parking lots, so we can control that.
[00:42:21] Speaker B: That's a big deal, too, isn't it?
[00:42:22] Speaker A: Access?
[00:42:23] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:42:24] Speaker A: We can do that. And if your grandmother's in high heels and you need to drop her off, she won't get a drop of rain on her. There's awnings, and we offer valet service, and I think we're very flexible but also durable, and we've had this chance.
You're a little impatient sometimes. I've been in nursery business over 20 years. We've had this open for 21 months. I'm a little impatient.
[00:42:48] Speaker B: I get it.
[00:42:49] Speaker A: Like to see more happening.
But really, at this point, where we're refocused on this is a fantastic wedding venue because it's such a big event for so many people, and it involves their family, and that's where we wanted to be, so they don't have to go far.
Offer everything in house.
There's no tricks. We tour it, we talk about it all the time, and we're very flexible. Also, we have plant material, our own in house, if you want to use that to decorate. And the get ready suite in that area. And that Casablanca building you've been in with me before looks way different now, even a year later, to service that part of it, because that's, in part, know the daily event of getting prepared and having your bridesmaids with you and the makeup artists and the music and being able to. This is across the alleyway, so that building is adjacent to the harvester. We got very lucky with that. Used to be a hardware store. That was an ace hardware, really, next to the tractor dealership, next to the bank, across the street from a hotel. So the energy is there and the experience is there. This past 20 months, as I've said to you, a year and a half coming up on two years in March, has given us time to be experienced, to be better at what we were.
[00:44:03] Speaker B: Already doing and fine tune some. Absolutely, yeah.
[00:44:06] Speaker A: Full in house catering kitchen, walk in cooler, ice maker, roll up door chandeliers. Ada, very compliant, fully climate controlled, lots of amenities and power, 600 amp service, three phase. So that's a good thing for us. And if somebody wants to get married in that downtown area, there's three historical churches you can walk from. We've done that a couple of times where they've had their wedding off site, but they've had the reception at our place and us as a backup. If they have a rain out, that's a little security for them, so they don't stress on the very big day they have. We're fully enclosed, so we've tried to think of every countermeasure that we could possibly.
[00:44:47] Speaker B: Sounds like you have.
[00:44:48] Speaker A: We've gotten a little more experience with the burrow app room to now the harvester, but it wouldn't have happened without the nursery at all. Back to the trees, back to our roots.
[00:44:55] Speaker B: You've come full, literally. Yeah.
[00:44:57] Speaker A: So we're certainly not knowing how things would always work out. I'm truly blessed and again, privileged to plant crops and then drive three more miles and see world class music. Yeah, we have a great area. And whether you're in downtown or Liberty, Alexandria, just decab in general is strategically located. Get to the airport in about an hour. There's plenty of shopping.
We have a hospital, which a lot of communities do not. I think we have great services. The utilities. Oh, my goodness, we're blessed. Y'all have beefed it up with the fiber and the gas. They're amazed at how the affordability.
But bottom line, it's the pace. It's the pace from day to day pace. And the water and of course, the people.
[00:45:48] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:45:49] Speaker A: I said, there's your commodities that will make you have long life. Community. We use that word so much, and sometimes we blow past it. But look at what goes on around the rest of the world. And driving over here today, I told you, it's like we live in heaven.
[00:46:06] Speaker B: I like seeing your passion in what you do, and I don't think anyone can disagree with me that knows you, that knows that you truly have it. You truly have a passion for what you do. And if people want to find out more about your businesses, what's the best way? Whether it be the nursery or the harvester or that sort of thing.
[00:46:23] Speaker A: The easiest that we've kind of worked towards. Bertdriver.com.
[00:46:28] Speaker B: Now, where did you come up with that?
[00:46:29] Speaker A: It took us years to come up with that.
[00:46:31] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:46:31] Speaker A: We tried everything in the book, and the simplicity finally hit.
[00:46:35] Speaker B: It just rolls off the table because.
[00:46:37] Speaker A: If somebody's passing by, I'm like, it's easier to do it that way.
[00:46:40] Speaker B: That's a great way.
[00:46:41] Speaker A: Instead of typing in.
[00:46:42] Speaker B: There's that marketing mind, though.
[00:46:44] Speaker A: Well, we're trying to make it easy on the customer as well. Right? So that's the easiest thing to do. Obviously, our phone number is everywhere if you want it, but most people have access to a mobile device or their home computer, and that's where we are. I still did get my phone book.
[00:47:01] Speaker B: I did.
[00:47:01] Speaker A: I got it in the mail. Proud to have my DTC phone book. There you go with these schedules. And I looked up the burn permit phone number the other day.
[00:47:11] Speaker B: You just never know when.
[00:47:12] Speaker A: I didn't even use my phone.
[00:47:13] Speaker B: There you go.
[00:47:14] Speaker A: So that's easy for anything. The harvester is out there on its own web page and its own socials. The burlap room.
Own web page and its own socials. If you just type in burlap room, it'll take you there. Harvester tn it'll take you there. Burt driver nursery, it'll take you there.
[00:47:31] Speaker B: Thanks for coming over here.
[00:47:32] Speaker A: Thanks for inviting me.
[00:47:33] Speaker B: And you have to come back sometime and keep us updated on what you're doing.
[00:47:38] Speaker A: Again, I can't brag on you all enough for having the services that you have. Makes my life easier.
[00:47:44] Speaker B: I appreciate the business all about it.
[00:47:46] Speaker A: Makes it so much easier. And this is a great idea with the local quick, very clever.
[00:47:52] Speaker B: As one person told me many years ago, I do what I can, right?
[00:47:56] Speaker A: I do what I can.
[00:47:57] Speaker B: Do what I can.
Well, thanks, Bert. Take care and have a safe trip back. And like I said, do come back and keep us updated from time to time.
[00:48:05] Speaker A: Indeed.
[00:48:05] Speaker B: On what you got going.
[00:48:07] Speaker A: Yes, sir.
[00:48:07] Speaker B: Thanks for having me. Thank you. Thank you. Stay tuned. We've got more of the local click coming up in just a moment. You know that DTC provides great products and services to your home, and you can get the same great value for your business with DTC business solutions. Whether you're making sales over the phone or online to customers around the world, we deliver the reliable business solutions you need at a competitive price. And we do it all with uncompromising service.
Let's talk about what matters to your business. Call DTC Business Solutions today and welcome back to the final segment of this month's edition of the local click. And Justin's back with me, as well as Jared Bradshaw, and he is the expert. So, what do you have for us this month?
[00:48:57] Speaker F: This month is all about if your tv's not working, if your set top box is not working. Now, your set top box is the black box that has a little red dot on it or the black box that has a little green dot on it. That's what you'll be pointing your remote control at to change channels and whatnot.
[00:49:13] Speaker B: Right?
[00:49:13] Speaker F: Now, if you verified power on your set top boxes, you see they have power, then we can move on to what we'll talk about today is the Solenos, which is your wireless boxes. Now, some people may have different ones, and that's why I brought along another one to show you all the same concept, just a different style box.
[00:49:31] Speaker B: And then everybody, I guess some people may have them hardwired. It may not even have these, right?
[00:49:35] Speaker F: Correct. Some people have them hardwired. Then you don't need these.
[00:49:39] Speaker B: So it wouldn't be this problem. If their tv went out and they're hardwired, it would not.
[00:49:43] Speaker F: Correct. It would not be that problem.
[00:49:45] Speaker B: I got you.
[00:49:46] Speaker F: But to locate the first box that you want to be working with, you'll go to your main equipment. You'll be looking for a white box. It has comtrand written on the side, or a black box that has aerosonic written on the top.
If you go to that, it'll be next to your ont and your router. So first thing you want to do is look at the back and make sure that your switch is flipped up to AP. And look at the front of it. And if there's a green light next to AP, then you're good. There's a little white button on the back, says WPS. You'll click it. Once you click it, you go to the tv that's not working, and you'll see the same wireless box, and you will take and click the WPS button on it. Once you do that, you'll notice they start to lock into each other. It can take anywhere from 15 to 30 seconds for them to really sync up.
On the back of those boxes, there will be an ethernet cord, and that will plug into port one on the back of your comtrend. And it'll go to your set top box, which is that black box with the green light or the red light on it.
[00:50:50] Speaker B: Right.
[00:50:51] Speaker F: But once you do that, they'll sync back up. And sometimes even before doing this, you could try to just reboot the main one that sits next to your router and sometimes that'll fix the issue. Okay, but that's about all it is to how you fix it.
[00:51:06] Speaker B: Now, do you also sometimes need to reboot the set top box after connecting those, or does it normally just pick up?
[00:51:13] Speaker F: Sometimes you'll have to reboot the set top box. It's really just a 50 50 shot, I guess. I mean, if it wants to pick up and start working again, sometimes you just have to reboot it. I know with the newer set top boxes, you have to reboot it most of the time for it to start working.
[00:51:25] Speaker B: Right. Hey, that's a good tip. That could save you a lot of heartache. If you're in the middle of watching something and something goes south, instead of waiting on someone to show up and fix it, you might can just repair it yourself. That's right. Simple reboot. We go back to the reboot, Justin, we keep talking reboot, don't we?
[00:51:41] Speaker C: Listen. Reboot fixes most of problems. Listen. This is two episodes in a row as we've been preparing. We've had to reboot to fix.
[00:51:47] Speaker B: Let me ask you something. What did you have to do today in preparation of today's podcast on a separate piece of equipment from last month to make it work, I had to reboot it.
[00:51:56] Speaker C: And simple reboot fixed the issue and it started working again.
[00:52:00] Speaker B: I think these engineers need to make equipment that doesn't require reboots. It just always works. They need to work on that. Right.
[00:52:07] Speaker F: And I was just going to point out the fact this is the other wireless box that you might have in your house.
Same concept. On the back, there's a WPS button and a switch that is for AP and station. You'll just click that WPS button and then it'll start flashing and go to the tv. That's not working. Click it again.
[00:52:23] Speaker B: Gotcha.
[00:52:24] Speaker F: Just wanted to reiterate that because I forgot it was sitting next to.
[00:52:27] Speaker B: Oh, that's okay. So there's basically two different styles is what you're saying, of those wireless boxes that you may have in your house. So don't be alarmed if it looks a little bit different from the first one. You may have the other model. Awesome. Well, what do we have for tech news roundup today, Justin?
[00:52:43] Speaker C: I'll try to be super duper duper quick with this. So as y'all all know, if you have a smartphone, more than likely you are in one of two camps. You are either in the Apple camp or you're in the Android camp, and we all know the camp to be in is team Apple because you get blue bubbles.
[00:53:03] Speaker B: Well, don't be making all the Android people angry.
[00:53:06] Speaker C: There's a solution for all my Android folks out there now, at least right now at the time that we are recording this, a new app called Beeper Mini has been released where a 16 year old, of all people, has reverse engineered Apple's iMessage system. And now there is access for our Android folks to have blue bubbles and imessage in their native service. It actually goes through Apple servers. It is sent and received through Apple users on their iPhones and their other devices. Just like a typical iMessage, they already had to fix a different workaround. It did register your number. Now you have to use your email address instead. But it's still working somewhat, which is interesting. Apple has agreed that in the future they're going to open up their messaging protocol to use what's called RCS, which is a little bit more rich format for regular messaging. Of course, their marquee feature is iMessage, but their regular text messaging service is still using an antiquidated old school. It's limited on characters and what kind of quality you can send in multimedia and files and attachments and stuff like that. So they've promised some addition to that. But hey, some more people can get access to iMessage. Rolling on the second thing, Google has actually been involved in an antitrust lawsuit with their App Store, which if you recall, Apple was in a similar antitrust lawsuit with Epic Games. Epic Games also sued Google over their App Store, but they have won that antitrust lawsuit, which is interesting because Google is quite more open than even Apple is in theirs, saying that it's going to have to be even more open than it is. So it's going to be interesting to see if that's a positive for everyone because that may mean more opportunity for access to different apps and maybe even potentially some cheaper apps and stuff. But in the technology product space, meta, formerly referred to as Facebook, has released a new version of their smart glasses through Rayband. So the Rayband meta smart glasses, it's their version 2.0. Smart glasses have kind of went on and off over the few years. But biggest thing is they're never stylish. You look at them and you are wearing a huge set of glasses and like, what in the world do you have on? Well, these glasses are a little bit thinner, a little bit more stylish. Of course, they got that ray band name attached to them, you can see the camera if you look at it. It's got, actually got two cameras on it, but it'll take video and audio when it has speakers built into it that are even louder. And so they've been getting some pretty good reviews so far. It's just how much technology does one person need and how much access and recording do you need?
[00:56:02] Speaker B: Explain this a little bit more to me. These smart glasses is what it's called.
[00:56:05] Speaker F: Is that kind of like off Ned's declassified back in the day, Cookie had his glasses. Is that kind of like those smart glasses?
[00:56:11] Speaker C: Yes, absolutely.
[00:56:13] Speaker B: That's cool, isn't it?
[00:56:14] Speaker F: That is cool.
[00:56:15] Speaker C: Yeah.
They're trying to get some more of their AI stuff in it. This version is new and hasn't been out too long. And so there's some future promises of firmware updates and end edition. But it does have multiple speakers. It's got multiple cameras. So we'll see what it comes along with.
[00:56:34] Speaker F: Get about the low price stuff. 1999, that is $1,999, $299.
[00:56:41] Speaker C: It actually is not too bad on the price.
[00:56:43] Speaker B: I thought it would be more.
[00:56:44] Speaker C: That is not super cheap, but it's not as high as I thought it would.
[00:56:48] Speaker F: Pair of sunglasses.
[00:56:49] Speaker B: We should probably try to get some of those in here for review.
[00:56:53] Speaker C: Unit.
[00:56:53] Speaker B: Test unit.
[00:56:54] Speaker F: Really cool.
[00:56:55] Speaker B: Yeah. I think people would like to see and hear about that.
[00:56:57] Speaker C: Well, and you hit on that. You say that if you're talking about like, you can use prescription lenses in them or you can make sunglasses and stuff out of them. That's part of it too. They're functional. They're not just, hey, I'm throwing on a random pair of glasses.
[00:57:09] Speaker B: Right.
[00:57:09] Speaker C: They could be your functional everyday I need to wear know when you're incorporating your prescription into them as well. That's cool.
[00:57:16] Speaker B: That is cool. Imagine, Jared, if you were doing your ask the expert segment and we had those glasses on you and you were taking video of what you're looking at and you're seeing it from your point of view when you're looking at these items and trying to explain it to people.
[00:57:29] Speaker F: Very helpful.
[00:57:29] Speaker B: Yeah. You could record the video of what you're actually seeing. Well, thanks. I appreciate it, Justin. That's great. That's interesting. We'll see if we can try to get some of those in on the show and show everyone. Maybe we'll let Jared take the inaugural run on his next segment and we'll take the video with it and put it in the video portion of the podcast so you can see what it actually looks like while you're using them. All right. Well, next up we have the WhatsApp DTC segment. And as far as for the month of January, not a whole lot going on this time of year. Everybody, I think, is trying to recover from the holiday season and that sort of thing. So I will say Happy new year to everyone and hope you're having a great 2024 so far. One thing I do want to mention, as far as DTC, three items, we do have the basketball season continuing to progress for broadcast, and we'll be continuing to take more and more of those games for playback on DTC three. And you can learn more about that at DTC Three tv.
But really, other than that, let's see if we can get ramped back up for starting another new year and that sort of thing. And I'm sure we'll have the DTC express at more events coming up very soon as the weather starts to warm up and more events start to happen that are outdoor events and that sort of thing.
But I think it's been a good show. I've enjoyed it. Thank you guys for always joining me and sharing your expertise and just kind of hanging out right and talking shop a little bit and that sort of thing. Not sure what we'll have for next month for Jared to talk about or for Justin in the news segment. Seems like the news changes very quickly, but I'm sure Jared's got something he can pull out of his hat for his next tip.
[00:59:14] Speaker F: Got a few things.
[00:59:15] Speaker B: Yeah, I appreciate it very much.
Well, thank you, everyone for joining us for another episode of the Local Click. And we'll be back on the first Wednesday of next month with a brand new episode. But until then, for Justin, for Jared, I'm Nick Noakes saying so long till next month.
[00:59:34] Speaker A: Learn more about out the show by visiting us
[email protected]. Also, be sure to subscribe to us on your favorite podcast or video platform so you won't miss our next episode of the local click. See you next month.
